The Hero's Journey
by illbethemayo
Summary: This is the story of a man who claims his own destiny. This story starts in episode 9 in the wake of Kamina's death and Simon's emotional struggle, until he finds Nia. The relationship between Simon and Nia is the main focus of this story and most plot points will be dependent on it. This series plans to go all the way to the end of the series and a little beyond.
1. Nia

_Chapter 1: Nia_

Digging. That was all he was good for. He was never cut out to be a leader, a hero, anything other than a simple digger.

Simon laid lifelessly in the the mud as rain poured over the landscape, drenching everything with its relentless fury. It was a pretty accurate place for him to be right now, considering what had happened. Maybe he should just lie here for eternity and wait for death to end his suffering. That isn't what Bro would have done, granted, Bro would never have gotten into this situation to begin with.

Simon turned his head to see an unmoving Lagann staring blankly back at him. "Heh, even you have betrayed me now, haven't you."

He thought back to the recent encounter with some enemy Gunmen while the team was trekking across the land to their next destination. Rossiu had taken over piloting Gurren after Bro had died and was about to strike the finishing blow on a Gunmen when Simon decided that he wanted to do it himself. Maybe killing the Gunmen would make him feel better, maybe it would make Kamina proud of him. Who was he kidding, nothing he could do could ever compare to what his Bro had accomplished. In a fit of rage, Simon had ruthlessly speared the Gunmen in half, hitting it so hard that the Beastman inside became separated from the rest of the machine and collapsed dead on the ground. Killing the Beastman had proved to provide him no satisfaction in the end and Simon was still left a hollow inside, still angry. He deserved everything that was happening to him. If he had of been stronger, he could have saved Kamina. Simon continued his rampage as more Gunmen closed in on him. He pounced on one and proceeded to stomp on its head over and over and over.

"Simon, this is overkill!" Rossiu shouted from the lower cockpit.

"He who strikes first wins! It's what Kamina would have done!" Simon retorted. What did Rossiu know, spending his whole life trying to avoid trouble by making other people deal with his problems.

Simon charged at a pack of flying Gunmen near a large gorge, stampeding through their bullet rain without a second thought.

"Simon, you need to stop being so reckless. If you keep fighting like this, YOU will die this time."

"Kamina wouldn't run away. Not Kamina. Not ever!" Simon screamed. " _What is the point of running away anyway. If I run away, more people will die. If I stay and die, what does it matter, my life means nothing anymore. I'm useless. I actually hope I do die, maybe then people will stop expecting things from me that I clearly can't do!"_ Simon thought.

At that moment, Simon unleashed a tornado of spiral energy all around him, destroying all nearby Gunmen. He charged again at another group, except this time, Gurren Lagann stopped responding to his controls. It halted in the middle of the battlefield and refused to move as one lone Gunmen closed in.

" _Dammit, come on!"_ Simon thought. He gripped the controls harder and put more energy into it. All the spiral power he was generating was bottling up in Gurren Lagann's throat until suddenly it burst out from all sides.

" _What the hell!?"_ Simon thought as Lagann began frantically detaching itself from Gurren. Suddenly, Lagann freed itself from the rest of the mecha and launched itself into the gorge, dragging Simon down with him. After using so much spiral power at once, Simon's fatigue caught up to him and he blacked out during the fall…

And now he was here, alone, face down in the mud, total scum of the earth. " _I might as well try and get back to them,"_ he thought. Simon pushed himself up off the ground and walked over to Lagann. He grabbed his core drill, half expecting it to not work at all, and inserted into Lagann's control panel. Lagann flared to life with this action, startling Simon. "It started!" he exclaimed. Having nowhere else to go but upwards, he spotted a hill and figured that was the best way to go. He began trudging slowly across the muddy wasteland in search of some way to get out of this gorge. It didn't take long for him to reach to reach a vast clearing at the crest of the hill. Simon was startled by what he saw. The landscape was dotted with small, metal containers, each with a dim red dot glowing on them.

"What are these things?" Simon mused aloud as he exited Lagann's cockpit, bringing along his core drill. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something moving on the cliffside to the east. Simon squinted his eyes at the object and managed to make out its form. It appeared to be a bug Beastman of sorts holding another one of those odd containers. A few seconds later he hurled it into the pit that Simon was standing in.

" _Whatever is in there, it mustn't be very important. They throw the things away down here like they're trash, but if they are trash, why do they need a container?_ " Simon thought. The recently thrown box slid through the mud all the way to where Simon was standing. Out of curiosity, he approached the container, curiosity driving him forward. He stared blankly at it for a seconds before noticing a drill shaped hole on the front. It looked identical to the keyhole in Lagann!

" _Here goes nothing, I guess,"_ Simon thought as he inserted the core drill into the hole. He hesitated for a second before turning it. " _Do I really want to know what is inside here. What if it is some kind of monster? No, Kamina wouldn't be afraid of anything, I have to try and live up to that,"_ Simon thought as he turned the key.

The container appeared to emit smoke before the top swung open like a chest. More and more white smoke billowed out, covering the surrounding area with its haze. Eventually the smoke in the box cleared and Simon could get a good look at its contents. His eyes widened and he gaped in awe as his brain tried to process what his eyes couldn't believe.

In the box lay a young girl with pale, slender legs, a short pink dress that didn't reach her knees, gold accessories all over her outfit, and long, pale blue and white hair that was shaped like a wispy cloud. She also appeared to have a large pink flower in her hair. The girl was curled up with her petite hands being used as a pillow for her sleeping head. She looked as if she couldn't be any more than Simon's age considering her size. Simon just stared at her in a daze, a large amount of thoughts all conjuring themselves up in his brain.

 _"She's absolutely beautiful…"_ Simon thought to himself as he stared. She wasn't sexy in the way that Yoko was, with her large proportions and accentuated curves, but instead boasted her own sort of elegance and innocence to her, like a flower that has yet to be picked. Realizing that that was the last thing that should be on his mind, he began to think of some way to help the girl wake up when suddenly her eyes fluttered open.

Simon took a step away from the container as she pushed herself up and sleepily blinked her eyes at him. Simon could now see the jewel plated collar on her shirt and the red tie she appeared to be wearing. Her outfit looked to foreign for Simon to truly be able to understand the style. She sat up and turned to face him and smiled. "Hail fellow, well met!". Her voice was and smooth and seemed to calm the atmosphere.

Simon was completely dumbstruck and at a loss for words. He stared into her pink, cross shaped eyes and replied with: "H-Hail fellow..?" He didn't understand her speech and it became evident to him that she was likely not raised among the kind of people he was. This gave him a small glimmer of hope to know that at least someone out there seemed to not be constantly suffering.

Tilting her head to the left a little the girl sleepily said: "Who are you, good sir?".

"Ohh, uhh, I'm nobody important enough to be called 'good sir'". He had considered for a moment just telling her his name but figured he wouldn't want to get her hopes up on him being a good person. He wasn't worth the effort.

Suddenly the girl perked up and started looking around. "Oh! This is the outside, isn't it?". Her gleeful reaction to the surface reminded him of the first time he saw the surface, wide eyed and full of hope. He didn't want to be the one to spoil her fantasy for her. She reached her hands up into the air.

"This is rain!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Simon was overwhelmed by her innocence. Being excited to be rained on was an atypical reaction. She appeared to be enthusiastic and optimistic about everything, the complete opposite of how he felt at the time. Maybe this was the kind of happiness he was fighting for? Not this girl specifically, but what about the other people who were trapped underground? Were they this joyful to experience the surface after he and the rest of team Dai-Gurren helped liberate them? Of course, the team had only managed to liberate a few villages so far, but how were they managing now?

 _"Is that the world Bro wanted to make?"_ Simon thought _. "But no, it is no thanks to me that we had made it this far. All I have accomplished in doing was getting Bro killed and failing to live up to his legacy."_

Simon was dragged back into reality as the girl jumped out of her container and her bare feet squished in the mud. "It is cold. What is this?" she questioned.

Realizing that she expected an answer to her seemingly simple question, he hastily replied. "Um, that's dirt. Are you okay without any shoes?" he said, trying to be friendly to the the girl. Now that she was standing, Simon could get a real feel for how she looked. Her clothing was no doubt nicer than anything the members of the crew wore. She stood with her eyes closed and head tilted to the side, trying to take in the surface.

"It's cold and wet and squishy…" she said," It feels wonderful!".

"Really? It does?". Simon was left with no choice but to go on with the girls musings. He really didn't want to hurt her feelings by doing something wrong. She was too delicate, like if he touched her, she would shatter into pieces. He felt a strange urge to want to protect her, but from what. The reality of the cruel world she was born into, that was most likely it. Based on the way he found her in a container, Simon could already tell she was heading towards heartbreak.

She straightened herself out and smiled to him. She walked right into his personal bubble until she was practically right on top of him. Simon's face turned bright red as the girl brought her hands up to his face and put them on him. Her hands were smooth and warm and, if it would have been under other circumstances, he would have wanted to enjoy her presence and her touch. But right now he was more concerned about what to do with her. He couldn't just leave her here.

"Why are you the same as I am?" Nia asked him. That line really threw him for a loop. "You have no fangs nor tails nor scales." she observed. "Your skin in soft, as well." She began to lightly stroke his face, which only made him more flustered. The gesture didn't seem to be intimate, but it truly seemed as if she was just inspecting him. Luckily, the girl seemed to be oblivious to the fact that she was making him uncomfortable.

"Well, that's only natural. I'm a human being."

"'Human being'," she said slowly, as if she was saying it for the first time. This conversation was taking a strange turn.

"Right. A human being. A human. A person."

She took a step back from him, removing her hands from his face. "And what, exactly, is a human?".

Simon could not believe what he was hearing. Had she really never seen another human before? "Well, a human is… Well, like you and me. We look like this, we have a head, stuff like that." How was he supposed to answer that question.

"There are others like us?!" she said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, there are plenty."

"Really? And all of them are the same as you? They have the same face?" she asked.

"No, we're not all identical. It would be creepy if everyone had the same face." Simon laughed a little on the inside at her naivety. It was cute, to watch her ask all these questions and always be so excited and surprised

"It would?" she said. "Oh, the rain has stopped!"

Simon looked up. Light had began filtering through the clouds as the rain slowed a halt. The whole area seemed to become a lot less eerie that way. "Hey you're right!" Simon said, trying to match the girls enthusiasm. A short silence passed over them as they took in their brief moment of tranquility together.

"I wonder why I am outside?" the girl wondered, breaking the silence.

"Um, I don't really know," Simon stated. That was one question Simon wasn't prepared to answer. One that worried him deeply. " _What could a girl be doing out here alone in a **container**?"_ Simon wondered. This was all to weird. Although he did know that whatever the reason was, the girl was not going to like it. The feeling that she was being abandoned out here didn't leave Simon's mind. What would have happened to her if he didn't open her container. Would she have stayed in there forever until death? Simon didn't like that notion. Whatever she was doing here, he knew he had to get her out. For the first time in a week, Simon strengthened his resolve.

"First things first, we need to get you out of here," he said with a hint of confidence in his voice. He removed his shoes from his feet and placed them down in front of Nia's bare feet. "Here. I can't let you walk around like that, put these on." he said.

"All right," she said as she stepped happily into his shoes. She looked up at him and smiled. "My name is Nia. What is yours?".

"M-Me? I'm Simon," he said timidly. He suddenly found himself nervous around her.

At this point the sunlight had unveiled Nia completely. Simon could see her bright beaming colors that shone radiantly. Again, he was taken aback by how beautiful she was. "Simon… What a beautiful name," Nia said, feeling out his name in the same way she had done with 'human being'.

Simon couldn't help but stare at her as she bathed in the sunlight. "Thanks."

"Tell me, Simon."

"What?".

She lifted her arm up and pointed behind Simon. "What is that?" she asked.

"Huh?" Simon turned around. "AAAAGGGGHHHH," Simon screamed. Before them stood a horse headed Gunmen with rocket launcher arms. It towered over them, easily over 100 times their size.

There was no time to panic. Simon _really_ had to get Nia out of here now. Instinctively, he swooped Nia's legs out from under her and caught her back in in his other arm and started running through the Gunmen's legs. "Hurry! Let's go!" he shouted. He had to get to Lagann, that was their only choice if they were to fight it.

The Gunmen began to fire a barrage of bullets at them from its arm. Simon ran faster than he ever had before, faster then that time Kamina threw boulders at him for manliness training. Simon was _sure_ that this is what Kamina would have done in this situation.

"Simon, what was that?" Nia asked. Oddly enough her voice didn't sound too scared.

"It's a Gunmen!" Simon explained. "Humans on the surface are at war against them!".

"At war?" Nia said puzzledly.

"If we don't fight them, they'll kill us!" Simon explained. They had almost reached Lagann now. Once they got there, Simon placed Nia down inside the cockpit before jumping in himself. Nia watched him as Simon put his core drill into the control panel.

"Please, Lagann!" Simon pleaded as he turned the key. This was a time he could not afford to have Lagann fail on him, he was fighting for more than just his life now, he had to protect Nia! Lagann's green eyes flared to life after the key turned.

"Yes, it worked!" Simon shouted. The Gunmen shot a barrage of missiles at them this time. The cockpit closed just in time around the two to protect them from harm. Simon leaped headstrong into the enemy. He ramped up the power output, but as soon as he did, Lagann started malfunctioning again. Green spiral power began to leak out of the mecha. The Gunmen realized the weakness and retaliated with a crushing punch. Simon and Nia were sent flying out of the cockpit. Simon hit the ground first with Nia landing on top of him soon after. Good thing for Simon she didn't weigh much.

"Simon, are you alright?" she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Damn it, not again!" Simon said as he pounded the ground with his fist . He couldn't believe that he let yet another person down. Let another person die. Now both Nia and Simon were defenseless, and it was all his fault. " _No. Not again. This is the same thing that happened with Kamina. I was too weak to save him, and now I'm too weak to save Nia! Why do I have to be so damn USELESS! And to think, maybe I could have been able to really get to know her,"_ Simon thought, " _Haha, fate sure is cruel, if I never opened her container, she wouldn't be in this situation. Damn me and my weakness_ ,".

Simon pushed himself up and off of the ground.

 _"No. I can't let it end like this, at least not for Nia. Bro would have gone down fighting, and I'll be damned if I'm just going so shrivel up and die,"_ Simon thought. He walked up to the malfunctioning Lagann and grabbed his drill.

"Run, Nia," Simon said somberly. "Once you start, don't stop. Keep running until you reach tomorrow, and maybe then will you be safe. I'll stay back and fight the Gunmen." He wasn't quite sure what he intended to do with his measly drill, but he would think of something. _"At least, Nia can escape safely. As for me, well, that's not really important, is it,"_ Simon thought. His hands were shaking violently as he struggled to control his fears. _"Pathetic. I can't even work up the courage to fight,"_ he thought, mentally scolding himself.

"No, I can't allow you to do that!" Nia said defiantly. She placed her hands on his. "Do you really want to die? If you stay and fight, you will likely not live for the next one. If you are scared, there should be no shame in running," she reasoned. "There will be other days that the world will need your strength. Today we run, so tomorrow, we can fight."

Simon had not expected such strong words and resolve from the girl who didn't know what a human was. But, he couldn't let himself run away this time, not after spending his whole life letting other people fight his battles for him. _"That's how Kamina died. I was too weak,"_ Simon thought _. "I need to be a man."_

"That's exactly why I must fight now. If I don't, will there be a tomorrow for everyone? I'm sick of watching people die! So, please Nia, run," Simon commanded, his spiral power flaring to life around him. He radiated a green aura that started resonating with his core drill and he felt power flowing through his body.

Removing Nia's hands from his, Simon let out a battle cry and charged at the Gunmen. The power around him seemed to be boosting his physical capabilities, as he had closed the distance between him and the Gunmen in a matter of seconds. He thrust his drill through the Gunmen's leg, creating a large hole straight through it. Enraged, the Gunmen retaliated with a flurry of bullets in his direction. He dodged a few and parried the rest with his drill, which infused with power, had transformed into a staff of sorts with a sharp drill on the end. It resembled Kamina's sword in many ways, in matter and in spirit.

"AUURRRGHHHHHH!" Simon screamed as he leaped up the Gunmen's weak leg. The machine shook frantically in an effort to shake him off, but to no avail. Simon had already climbed up the torso and put all his energy into massive leap, propelling him high into the air above the Gunmen's head. He let out another scream as he brought his weapon down of the Gunmen's head, creating a massive hole. As Simon's feet landed upon the Gunmen's head, his foot slipped from the wet metal and he was sent tumbling down towards the ground.

It happened in a matter of seconds, seeing his opening the Gunmen brought its massive fist down upon Simon's falling body. The force of the punch sent Simon flying in Lagann's direction. He crashed into the ground and slid in the mud from the force of the blow, his drill landing beside him and reverting to its original form.

"Simon!" Nia screamed, who up to this point had disobeyed Simon's orders and was taking cover behind Lagann, ran up to his limp body.

"Simon! SIMON!" she screamed, frantically shaking his body in an effort to see if he was still alive.

He was, in fact, still alive, but only just hanging on. Everything hurt. He was in so much pain, he actually hoped that he did die so he could be put out of his misery. He had truly failed this time. _"Damn it...I can't believe.. that.. this is how it's going to end for me… I couldn't win, I never had a chance. In the end...I was still to weak.. again… All that effort and big talk… wasted on me,"_ Simon thought as he slipped out of consciousness. The Gunmen in the distance opened its gaping mouth and released a massive missile at Simon and Nia. It was over this time…

* * *

"Hey, look down there! I think we found him" Kittan yelled as he pointed down into the gorge where Simon had fallen. From the cliffside they could see a large Gunmen regurgitating a missile from its mouth. A little ways away they could see Lagann and what looked like two figures lying next to it.

"No time to waste then, let's get down there and help out!" Yoko commanded. She was mounted on a Gunmen with her rifle in hand, ready to shoot.

"All right, let's give em' hell!" Kitten cried as he launched himself into the canyon head first with Yoko right behind him.

Yoko positioned herself in her sniping stance. She could see that the missile was almost upon Simon and trained her gun on that target. Once she had lined up the shot, she fired three bullets into the metal missile, blowing it up before it could cause any damage.

"I'm not going to let anyone else die!" she proclaimed.

Meanwhile, Kittan had lined up his King Kittan's pointed head with a large hole in the enemy Gunmen's head. "What the hell could've done that?" he wondered. "Heh, makes things easier for me I guess." He drove his head into the Gunmen's weak spot as he prepared for his ultimate combo.

"KITTAN! STINGER!" he yelled as he hoisted the enemy up in the air on his head.

"HELL'S HEADSPLITTER!" he yelled again as he separated the two halves of his King Kittan's head, ripping the enemy in two and causing a massive explosion.

"Hell yeah! I finally got to use it!" he yelled as he reveled in the awesomeness of his ultimate combo that he came up with. He had asked Leite to make that modification for him a few weeks ago and finally seeing it pay off was awesome.

Yoko looked over at Simon to see a strange looking girl lying over him and holding his hands. She then noticed how bloodied and bruised Simon was and he lay unmoving. _"What is this all about?_ " she wondered.

* * *

Nia sat over Simon's body as they were hurriedly carried home in Lagann by a large yellow Gunmen. It was clear that Simon needed medical attention, and fast. She wasn't sure how much longer he would last. Once arriving on board a massive Gunmen, Simon was immediately taken to one of the ship's doctors for emergency treatment. What shocked her was the lack of care they seemed to treat him with considering his critical condition. They seemed to be more interested in her for some reason.

A large man in black with yellow hair told her to come with him as he led her to what she could only assume was a dining area. A large crowd had shown up to the room at the same time she did and they made a lot of noise.

 _"I wonder if this place is always this loud?"_ Nia thought as she observed the people in the room around. What Simon had told her earlier was true in that there were many others out there like her and that no two people had the same face. It was a startling sight to see after having met almost no other humans in her entire life up until recently. A familiar looking man wearing a cooking hat continually brought out food and placed it on the table in front of her. The people around her seemed to refer to him as "Old Coco".

"Human beings certainly come in all shapes and sizes, don't they?" she asked to nobody in particular.

"So you've never seen another human being before, have you?" a voice from the crowd asked.

"No, only my honorable father," she replied. Nia thought back to how strange her father had been acting before she suddenly appeared on the surface.

"Honorable father she says," a voice responded from the crowd.

Suddenly the man called Old Coco wobbled up to her and offered her some tea.

"Thank you," she replied taking a sip to see what it was like. "It's delicious!" she said. Nia couldn't quite tell what it reminded her of, but it tasted familiar. _"Everyone here seems to be very nice,"_ she thought.

A large man with green hair spoke up next. "So when you woke up you were in a container and had been thrown into the gorge for some reason?" he said worriedly.

"Yes," she responded.

"Do you remember any details as to where your village is?" the man asked.

"Village?" she said confusedly. These surface humans certainly came up with a lot of strange words. She had no idea what this "village" was.

"Where your house is," the man explained.

"I have no idea. I've never been outside before. Father always told me that the outside world was dangerous," Nia said dejectedly, sorry for being unable to provide these strange people with answers to their questions.

"Well, he was right about that. I bet your father is worried about you," he replied in a soft voice.

"I'm not so sure," Nia said sadly. A few shocked reactions could be heard from the crowd. "Well I believe I may have angered him," Nia explained.

"Why is that?" the man responded.

"I asked him a question. 'Why was I born' I asked? As soon as I said it, father closed his heart to me," Nia said. In truth, Nia had been very lonely after that happened. Her father had stopped talking to her and didn't even look at her. She was shut up in her room with nobody to entertain her. Not long after, Simon had founder her in the gorge.

Any trace of the bright and upbeat girl that she was earlier was now unrecognizable. Nia's face was stone cold and serious. She didn't understand what could have made her father so mad by that question. She just wanted to fulfill her purpose, whatever it was.

"I don't understand it. Your father sounds like a very strange man," said a slender man with odd features. Nia didn't understand either, she only longed for the days in which she could be happy and play with her father. She was starting to think that that time may be over.

* * *

Simon walked out onto the Gunmen deployment room that was connected to the main bridge to find Lagann looking back at him again. He had made a miraculously quick recovery after being put into emergency care for just a few minutes. It seemed that some strange power was aiding his healing. The doctors, of course, just dismissed it as some sort of miracle, but Simon knew that wasn't the case. Ultimately they cleared him to have after realizing that there was no longer anything wrong with him. Simon had wandered around for a while before he found himself here. He had considered going and seeing how Nia was doing, knowing that the others were probably asking her all sorts of questions, but in the end he decided against it. He didn't have the courage of the right to see her after his recent failures, even if he really wanted to.

Simon stared at Lagann for a few seconds. "Lagann, are you going to abandon me too?" he asked. No reply. Of course not. He was talking to a machine, it was insane to expect anything else. Nobody seemed to be supporting him anymore. Yoko, Kittan, and the others just yelled at him for being worthless and blamed him for Kamina's death. Even Nia didn't even bother visiting him during his treatment, that he would have expected her to anyway after not being able to protect her. Even Lagann, an object with no free will, had turned against him. All his anger and resentment spilled out at once.

"What the hell do you want me to do, damn it!?" he pleaded. "Can't I even avenge Kamina's death?". He was in complete despair. There was nothing anyone could do to save him if he didn't even want to save himself. Simon just wanted it to end.

Suddenly, a massive earthquake knocked him to the floor as plumes of water erupted around the ship. Simon didn't care. Nothing really mattered to him anymore and he decided that he would just lie there until the whole Dia-Gurren brigade was wiped out, including him.

Leeron's panicked voice sounded over the intercom. "Simon! Where's Simon!? Where's Gurren Lagann?" he shouted.

 _"Heh, after every failure, they still expect me to be able to do something. They're foolish. I'm too weak. I wish they would just give it a rest already,"_ Simon thought. Not this time. He wasn't even going to try this time. Why bother?

A massive centipede like Gunmen crashed onto the front deck and sent shock waves throughout the whole ship. A smaller butterfly looking Gunmen hopped off and landed squarely on the deck. It crossed its arms sassily as a voice sounded out.

"There's no escape, human scum," a feminine voice said. Well, she wasn't wrong about Simon being scum at least. Purple whips of energy materialized around the Gunmen and began assaulting the ship.

Rossiu was already hopping into the cockpit of Gurren while Yoko charged out on the deck, rifle in hand, ready to defend team Dai-Gurren.

Simon didn't even bother to get up and help, being completely unfazed by the Gunman's threats. Suddenly, Nia rushed by him, running towards the enemy with no way to defend herself. This elicited a reaction in Simon as he stood up and watched her leave.

"Nia?" he said, wondering what it was she thought she was going to accomplish. It was clear from when they met that che wasn't a fighter. Simon ran after her in an attempt to stop her from getting herself killed. He knew he was too useless to save her, but he tried anyway. He wasn't exactly sure why though.

Nia rushed by Yoko, who was firing a few rounds at the Gunmen, and Yoko had the same line of thinking as Simon then.

"Wha-? That idiot, is she trying to get herself killed?" Yoko yelled. She already didn't like this girl, she was just too suspicious and the way everyone paid so much attention to her bothered her.

Nia halted right before the large Gunmen as Simon arrived on deck to stand beside Yoko. "What could she be planning?" Simon thought.

She lifted her arms up and out to her sides as her cape spread out along her back. It all looked very impressive from where Simon was standing. Nia lifted her head up and stared down the mecha.

"Stop this, Adiane!" she commanded. Her voice was powerful and commanding, nothing like the way it was before. Simon was completely enthralled by her bravery and beauty at the same time, but that didn't make him any less worried.

This seemed to have worked, surprisingly, as the purple whips stopped attacking the Dai-Gurren.

A voice could be heard from inside the Gunmen: "Wait, is that-?".

"First Princess Nia, daughter of Spiral King Lordgenome, orders you!" Nia commanded again. "Leave us, Adiane the Elegant! Are you aware of who I am? ".

 _"Daughter of the king? No way. That can't be right,"_ Simon thought. That meant a lot of things, and none of them were good.

Nia continued to fearlessly stare down the enemy, not moving an inch. It seemed, for a moment, that all time had stopped as no side made its move to attack.


	2. Despair

_Chapter 2: Betrayal_

"First Princess Nia, daughter of Spiral King Lordgenome, orders you!" Nia commanded. "Leave us, Adiane the Elegant! Are you aware of who I am?"

Neither side dared to make a move. There was a tense pause. " _No doubt they're contemplating something, but what?"_ Simon wondered. He had a reason to be invested in this battle now: Nia's life was on the line. " _How could she not have thought to tell me that she was the daughter of the Spiral King?"_ Simon questioned. " _Is it possible… she was just playing dumb and naive so she could get information out of me? If that is the case… then the enemy will know I'm too weak to pilot Lagann. Is that why the enemy chose to play one of their trump cards now? Have we all been tricked?"_ Simon thought, anger slowly building. It all made too much sense, except why would she defend them now? " _Can this be her way of further tricking us? Making us believe she is on our side? Yes that must be it,"_ Simon concluded. He didn't like the thought of Nia being an enemy spy, but he couldn't doubt that his whole situation was just too convenient for the enemy. He had to do something to try and eliminate the enemy now, before they were all killed. He came up with a dark solution in his mind.

He turned over to Yoko, who still had her rifle pointed at the Gunmen. "Yoko… I need you to shoot Nia. After that, we'll send the order to charge at the Gunmen and eliminate that too," he said in a hushed voice. He was sure he was right, this was the only chance they would get to kill two birds with one stone.

"Are you insane?!" Yoko spat. "What the hell do you think you're doing giving orders to kill the one person who is protecting us? Are you really that far gone; do you have any heart left at all?"

Why did everyone always have to be against him. "Damn it just do as I say!" he yelled. "Nia is a spy that was sent here to gather intel on us. How else would they know that now was a good time to attack while we can't use Lagann?" he whispered to her, making sure Nia didn't overhear.

"Are you even listening to yourself? You're jumping to conclusions that make no sense!" Yoko yelled. Originally, she thought the same thing of Nia, but after seeing how genuinely nice she was to them and seeing her defend them now, Yoko was positive she was an ally.

Simon quickly turned towards Yoko and grabbed her by the arms, making her rifle fall to the ground. "Why can't you see it the way I do?!" he yelled. "This is what Kamina wou-" Simon began saying as he was suddenly cut off by a booming voice from the Gunmen.

"You think so? In that case, we'll just kill her and pretend we never saw her! The Spiral King doesn't have to know!" the voice said. The Gunmen whipped around, swinging its scorpion tail directly towards Nia.

Yoko pushed Simon to the ground and frantically tried to pick her rifle back up so she could deflect the Gunmen's attack, but she was too late. By the time she managed to pick it up, the Gunmen's tail was already upon Nia.

Nia let out a terrified scream, it was the most sad and desperate thing Simon had ever witnessed in his entire life. She was struck hard in the chest and was sent flying across the deck before landing in a pool of her own blood.

"DOCTOORRRR!" Simon could hear Leeron scream over the intercom.

Yoko gave Simon the most hateful look possible. He could feel it scorching his soul with its fury. "LOOK WHAT YOU DID YOU DAMN FOOL! IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED?! MORE PEOPLE TO DIE! AND THIS TIME, IT'S _**ALL YOUR FAULT**_ YOU DUMBASS!" Yoko screamed in anger. It took all of her self control to not shoot Simon down on the spot. He was pitiful, below human, worthless.

"Huh, what?" said a confused voice from the Gunmen, cutting Yoko's furious raging. Just a few moments later, the enemy had completely disappeared back into the wall of water.

Nobody seemed to notice that the enemy had suddenly decided to retreat; all attention was given to Nia, who was lying limp and bloodied on the ground. A group of doctors rushed out to her and put her on a stretcher, pushing through the crowd of people who have gathered to see if she was okay.

"MOVE IT!" one of the doctors yelled. "WE NEED SPACE!".

Simon didn't move to go with them. He stayed on the ground for what seemed like years, the weight of his decisions pushing him down, making it so he couldn't get back up.

" _Kamina… I'm sorry. I know I've failed to live up to your legacy. Maybe, if I had been stronger, I could have been able to save you... I've missed you so much down here after you left us. It gets quiet without you here to rally us. I can't carry the burden you did. Protecting everyone, I just can't do it. You never lost a life in the time you were here. How did you do it, Kamina? How could you carry the weight of so many more lives on your shoulders… Am I really just that much weaker than you? No, I'm wrong. I've always tried to take the easy way out. Taking the burden of me and moving it somewhere else. But, I should have known that people would just get left behind that way. First you, now it's Nia. I shouldn't have asked for less to carry, but asked for broader shoulders. I see the error of my ways now, even though it's too late. Am I just destined to lose the people I'm close to? You were my greatest companion, my inspiration Kamina and you died because of me. And Nia… even after only knowing her for a short amount of time, I could see that she was a genuinely kind person. And I betrayed my heart and got her killed. Maybe that's all I'm good for? Getting people killed. In that case, I think the world would be better off without me,"_ Simon thought.

He pushed himself up. He knew what had to be done.

Simon removed the core drill from his neck and threw it on the ground. It wasn't useful to him anymore. He smashed it to a million pieces with his foot until it dissolved into green light and drifted away towards the main body of the Dai-Gurren.

Simon knew the solution to all his problems now. " _I can't look at anyone ever again, not after what I've done,"_ he thought.

He walked over to the side of the deck and peered down at the ground far below him. He could make it all stop for him. He could prevent more people from dying. He could save everyone from him. Tears feel to the ground around him in his moment of complete vulnerability. " _I'm sorry Nia,_ " he thought before taking one last look at the Dai-Gurren.


	3. Awakening

Chapter 3: Awakening

Everything was dull. Voices droned on in the background, none of them quite comprehensible though. Every now and then, bits and pieces of of a conversation could be heard. The voices sounded frantic, talking as if something had gone very wrong. But what?

Nia lied still on top of a medical bed in the ship's medical wing. "I wonder what all this commotion is about?" she thought. "I hope I'm not missing something important. Hmm, I'm sure nobody will mind if I just drift off to sleep, just for a little while."

* * *

Yoko looked on in concern as doctors rushed around the room, spitting out line after line of weird sciency stuff. It was all incomprehensible to Yoko, but it was times like these that she wished she would have paid more attention to the minimalistic education she received when she was a child. Nia had been unconscious for the better part of two hours now. From what the doctors explained to her, requiring her to ask them to talk slowly and simply, Nia had lost a lot of blood and her organs were severely damaged. It wasn't looking like she was going to make it out of this room alive. After having been on the job for multiple stressful hours, the doctors took a short break. Yoko figured now would be a good time for her to do the same.

"Don't go dying on me now Nia," Yoko thought before dozing off.

* * *

Nia's body had reached the end of its rope. Although she didn't feel any pain, she still had a small hunch in her unconscious mind that she may be departing for the next life soon.

A bright green cloud of light particles drifted into the room and began swirling over Nia's body. It wasn't long until the commotion stirred Yoko awake. She looked at the green energy swirling around over Nia's body for a second, considering whether or not her brain was playing light tricks on her. It didn't take much longer for her to reach the opposite conclusion.

"HEY, DOCTORS, LEERON, GET YOUR ASSES IN HERE!"

They all came scurrying in at once to see what the panic was about. The doctors all had confused looks on their faces, but Leeron seemed to be realizing something as they watched the light begin to form a spiral shape.

"Hmm, is this the spiral power that I've read about?" he mused aloud. "Okay! Begin,running tests on Nia's body all the way down to the molecular level, and fast!" he ordered.

Doctors began scurrying around the room, hooking up all kinds of mechanisms up to Nia. Yoko was left dumbfounded as to where Leeron could have gained such a large amount of medical knowledge since leaving Littner with her. She ended up posing that question to him.

"Huh, oh, a lady has to keep a few secrets to herself, no?" he replied with his trademark wink. Yoko soon regretted asking.

"All monitors and displays have been loaded up, you may want to take a look at this soon," one of the doctors said.

After gaining speed steadily for a while, the spiral now resembled what Yoko believed a galaxy looked like. It was incredible to watch. After giving off a blinding light, the spiral funneled itself into Nia's chest.

Leeron rushed over to watch the displays.

"Incredible! Is this the power of the spiral?" Leeron exclaimed.

"Blood flow, increasing to a steady level! Organ tissue, regenerating! Respiration levels, increasing! Brain activity returning to a stable level! All body functions performing at beyond perfect levels!" one of the doctors yelled.

"Unbelievable! Look at what's happening on a genetic level!" yelled Leeron. "I can't be sure, but it seems like there is some kind of conflict within Nia's genetic structure. Oh my! What kind of DNA is that? That is certainly not human genetic structure… In fact, that appears to be the exact opposite of the basic double helix pattern! And the spiral power seems to be destroying it! Ohh, how wonderful!" Leeron was talking a mile a minute. Even the doctors seemed to be confused on some level.

Yoko turned back to look at Nia, who now was radiating a brilliant green light. And then it stopped. A small grey cloud appeared to exit Now's body. When observed very closely, the ominous cloud seemed to materialize what looked like a face for a second. Yoko blinked her eyes to make sure what she was witnessing was real, but when she reopened them, the gray cloud shot straight up into the air and phased through the ceiling. Everything returned to normal. The whole situation was totally bizzare. Yoko didn't know whether or not to believe everything she had just witnessed.

"Interesting. Someone go find Simon and bring him here for me," Leeron said, looking to be in deep thought.

Yoko assumed that someone was going to end up being her. She had completely forgot about the boy in all the commotion. Now that he was back on her mind, Yoko's blood began boiling again. She didn't like the thought of having to look at the pitiful creature, but whatever Leeron needed from him was beyond her own feelings.

Just as Yoko stood up to leave, Nia's eyes fluttered open. She sat up and looked around with a warm smile on her face.

"Well met, everyone," she said warmly.

"Ah, welcome back princess," Leeron said, "Did you have a nice sleep?"


	4. Return

_Chapter 4:_

 _Return_

 **AN: Thank you to everyone who has read so far. I appreciate your support and it it really makes writing all the more enjoyable. Sorry for my recent absences even though it has only been three days since the last update. I plan to keep a consistent, fast paced upload schedule with two or three small chapters each week and one larger one on the weekends. The reason I haven't got any in the past few days was because I was busy preparing and auditioning for an honors band, but I plan to keep going strong from this point out until I finish this story. I don't ever intend on putting this story on hiatus, whether from wanting a break or from running out of ideas (I've actually already finished planning this story and all I need to do is write it).**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well as all of the ones to come :]**

* * *

Simon peered over the edge of the Dai-Gurren. The wind whipped around him as he observed the sandy wasteland far below. He leaned forward, letting his weight shift off the edge of the deck. It was too late to go back now, even if there was anything to go back to, even if he wanted to. The suffering would be over soon, in fact, it was seconds away. Simon had been defeated.

"Let's see you grit those teeth!" a voice yelled.

Before Simon could think, something struck him hard if the face and sent him flying back onto the deck. He landed with a thump as blood trickled down from his busted lip. He got up onto his knees.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Another blow sent him flying towards the ship's main body.

" _That voice, could it be? No way,"_ Simon thought.

"You're going to pierce the heavens with your drill, Simon!" He was sent flying once again.

"Believe in yourself, Simon!" another attack.

"Never give up!"

"Believe in the me that believes in you!"

"Running away, that's not the Team Gurren way!"

"Stand up, Simon!" the voice yelled after Simon had finished being knocked around the ship.

Simon struggled to push his body off the ground. His arms were weak, shaking with the effort of supporting his weight. His face was battered and bruised, eyes swollen, lips split, nose bleeding, cheeks swollen. Even so, he managed to get himself up.

"Simon," the voice said from behind him.

Simon turned around slowly to see a muscular, blue haired man looming over him. He already knew who it was from the voice, but actually _seeing_ him was something different.

"K-Kamina?" Simon sputtered.

"Now's not the time for reunions Simon! Now is the time for action!" Kamina declared.

"Is it really y-you? Did you come b-back to us?"

"I told you once already, if you ever start to doubt yourself, I'll always come to belt you one," Kamina said. "Even across worlds, I'll be there at your side. So what the hell do you think you're doing giving up like that? Never run away, never give up, _that's_ the Team Gurren way. Don't be a man that I'll be proud of, be a man that everyone can be proud of. Did you forget? Your drill will be the one to pierce the heavens. Stand tall, Simon. The world needs what you have to offer, so ditch the sad act and get out there and give em' hell. Don't believe in the Simon that I believe in, believe in the Simon that you believe in. There's other people out there who believe in you too, Simon, so don't ever think of throwing that all away again."

"Kamina… Right!" Simon said standing up tall. "I'll show everyone what Team Gurren is all about!" he yelled. "But, what do I do without my drill? I destroyed it…"

"You need to find _your_ drill Simon. Find the drill that will carve the path to the future!"

"Right!" Simon said.

Kamina gave him a confident smirk as he turned around and walked off towards the tip of the deck, his cape flapping around in the wind.

" _Kamina… Thank you. I'll prove to you that I can lead humanity to tomorrow. Just who the hell do you think I am?"_ Simon thought as he watched Kamina's figure dissolve in the distance.

" _Hmm, what's that?"_ Simon thought as he saw a group of large figures outlined in the distance. It looked like there were a group of Gunmen all crowded around a large hole, and the Dia-Gurren was marching straight towards it.. " _What could the be doing out there…? Could that be a village that they are attacking? No, they don't seem to be doing anything at all, they're just sitting there. And surely they've seen us by now, so why haven't they made a move to attack? Do they have forces hidden in that hole? Are we being baited into a trap?_

Simon ran off towards the main body of the ship. He weaved his way through the hallways, en route to the main control. He had to warn the team. Surprisingly, he had not run into anyone yet. Usually the ship was teeming with people, but Simon hadn't seen any of them. " _Maybe they are all taking a break after the fight with Adiane. That was only a few hours ago, after all…"_ He ran past a window where he caught a glimpse of the Gunmen again, a lot closer this time. It seemed that a confrontation with them was imminent, so deciding that the team probably knew what they were getting themselves into, Simon turned down a hallway that led to the medical room. He had to make sure Nia was recovering. Amidst his conversation with Bro, he had forgot everything else, all the problems he had to fix were still there. Of everyone he owed an apology to, Nia was first on the list.

Simon pushed the door open to reveal an empty room. Monitors with all sorts of complex information were the only thing lighting the otherwise dim and lifeless room. Medical supplies were gathered around a bed that looked like it had recently been used. Simon concluded that it was probably Nia's, but why wasn't she still here, recovering? There was no way she could have already healed, unless her wounds weren't as grisly as he had thought. He found himself drawn to the monitors, specifically one that appeared to measure spiral energy output. Since this ship used to be used for the Spiral King and his forces, Simon wasn't surprised to find all this advanced technology. What did interest him was what it was showing. He read the words printed across the top; **PATIENT 2E-0836 SPIRAL OUTPUT: 400%SP**. A spiral circle, much like the one in Lagann's cockpit, was fully lit up on four different layers. Simon never had much time to look into it, but he knew that it took one full circle to power up Lagann, and he could push out a few more when tensions were high. If he was right in his assumptions that all these monitors were connected to Nia's body, did that mean that this was Nia's doing? As far as Simon knew, he was the only one capable of using spiral power.

Realizing he had spent too much time standing around here, Simon left the room and headed again for the main control room. Surely someone must be there overseeing operations. As he neared his destination, he began to hear voices, angry voices.

" _Good, at least I know someone is still here,"_ Simon thought. He turned the corner and found his head touching something metallic. " _Oh, it's a gun_."

"Freeze kid," a nasally voice said. Simon peered down the side of the gun's barrel to see a furry Beastman staring back at him. It was not a pretty sight. The thing had an unusually long snout and a white stripe of fur running down its face.

Before he knew it he had his hands cuffed in wood and was being escorted around the ship at gunpoint. By the route they were taking, it he was probably being taken off the ship. Oddly enough, Simon wasn't really scared at all. Having a gun held to your head would normally be a traumatic experience for him, but he was calm and collected as he allowed the Beastman to shove and prod him down the halls. Maybe the conversation with Bro had awakened some kind of unknown confidence that was hidden deep within his soul, under all the doubts and fears that he had harbored.

" _This is it. This is my chance to show everyone what I can really do,"_ Simon thought as he contemplated the impending battle.

* * *

"Hello, Princess Nia," a raspy voice spoke.

Nia had been captured and taken away to a dimly lit room where one of the Spiral King's four generals was waiting for her. The entire ship had been summoned to a conference room for an emergency meeting, supposedly where they were going to discuss battle plans for the 'mission to save the hot babes' as Kittan had called it. After arriving, they were soon interrupted by a large group of Beastmen with guns. The rest of the group were taken away while Nia was sent to talk with general Guame.

"Hello, Guame," she replied in a resigned voice.

"I'm sorry to have to meet you again under these… unfortunate circumstances, but I have orders from Lordgenome to execute you," Guame explained.

"Execute me? Why would father want to do such a thing?" Nia replied. She couldn't believe what Guame was telling her. What reason would father have to kill her?

"Heh, such ignorance," Guame said. "I was told that you had asked him why you were born. Lordgenome despises his children having self awareness. He only has them as something to distract him from his boredom. They are all but mere dolls to him. What point is there in a doll that has needs and wants? Dolls should only exist to be played with. After getting tired of you, he cast you out to die in that container."

"..." Nia couldn't find any words to say. She wanted so badly to believe that Guame was lying, but somehow she knew that everything he was saying was true. She bit her lip and tried to hold back the tears that she had desperately wanted to let loose.

"Truth is, you are far too lovely to kill," Guame said. Nia could feel Guame's eyes looking her up and down.

Suddenly, he was right in front of her. He grabbed her chin and pulled her face down "How would you like to be the leader of this village? Someone has to teach these girls proper etiquette before they are sent off to see the king."

"And what happens to the there?" Nia asked out of fearful curiosity.

"Naturally, the spiral king lavishes them in his affections. Those girls will get to experience things they could never get underground. And when he has had his fun with them, he casts them away, like he did with you. Like every good doll!" Guame cackled.

Nia slapped his scaly face as hard as she could, no longer able to contain her emotions.

Guame cackled on the floor, almost maniacally. Nia couldn't stand to stay here any longer. She couldn't stand to be so far away from everything she had ever known. Her father had cast her out, and that was really the only person that had ever truly cared for her. Looking back now, her father never even _cared_ for her at all. It was all an act. She was just his plaything. Now the only people that actually liked her was Team Dai-Gurren, and even amidst their hospitality, none of them really knew her outside of Simon.

That's who she needed right now, Simon. He would come and rescue her, he had to. " _What evidence do I really have to support that though?"_ Nia thought. " _No, I mustn't think such things. I don't need a reason to believe in him. Even if I barely know him, I have to have faith that he will save me. I saw what he can do back when he found me. He can do it again. I know he will,"_ Nia thought.

* * *

Simon had been led down a long pathway to a clearing where the rest of the team was also being held captive. The village they were apparently supposed to be saving had actually turned out to be a trap, unsurprisingly. Based on the amount of young girls here, Simon guessed whoever was leading this operation planned to appeal to a person like Kittan, and it worked.

"Here you go boss. I found another one," the Beastman who was holding a gun to Simon's head said.

The team turned to face him, some giving him a glare, others just looking at him blankly. He caught eyes with Yoko who was giving him a particularly hating stare. He countered it with a deathly confident stare of his own. This obviously startled her as she quickly turned away from him.

"Put him with the rest," a raspy voice said. Simon was then shoved in with the rest of the group.

"Okay, now that we're all here, I can put you all in line to be executed, hehehehe," the voice said with a laugh that was a little to enthusiastic.

The whole group was then put in what could only be the village's prison, where they all began biting at the walls and bashing their heads into the ground in a desperate attempt to escape.

"C'mon! Let's teach them not to underestimate people who were raised underground!" Kittan yelled as a rallying cry.

Simon knew all their attempts at escape were futile, this bedrock was to hard to broken through without any drilling equipment. He had come across this kind of rock back when he would drill for his village. Normally, he would just drill around it but that option wasn't on the table for this situation. He didn't actually have a plan for escape. It was looking like that whole execution thing was going to become a reality at this rate.

" _Dammit, if I only still had my core drill I could dig an escape hole out of here…"_ Simon thought. He was then reminded of the time he had been in a similar situation with Bro back in the village. They had been trying to escape again when an earthquake struck, trapping them underneath a pile of hard rocks. Simon had been utterly terrified, but Kamina was cool and confident. 'Onwards and upwards men' he would yell. It was those brave words that stopped his hands from shaking. He had managed to make a hole in the rock somehow and then drilling an escape route from that was easy.

"You need to find your drill Simon," Kamina's words echoed through his head.

" _Find… my drill?"_ Simon wondered. It wasn't like Kamina to be cryptic. " _My drill… my drill is the drill that will pierce the heavens. If there's something in my way, I'll plow through it. Once I've drilled my way to freedom, I'll keep drilling until I find out what lies beyond that. Everyone who depends on me, I won't fail you. I'll be a man that not only Kamina is proud of, but a man I can be proud of. And Nia, wherever you are, I'll always be there to keep you safe. That's_ _ **my**_ _way. That's the Team Dia-Gurren way."_

Green energy began accumulating in the air around him. Slowly, people turned their heads to watch what was happening. The energy clumped together in the shape of a drill until it solidified. Simon reached out and grabbed it. He felt a new kind of power flowing through his body. Not a power that he found, but a power he created. A power fueled by heart and passion. He opened his hand to reveal a brand new core drill, shining radiantly and confidently. Simon put it around his neck and looked up to see team Dia-Gurren smiling back at him who then suddenly erupted with cheering for him. Simon smiled back at them, finally things were turning around for him.

"I'll be back everyone. I'm going to drill hole out of here for you to escape. Ready your offenses for our retaliation attack and take back the Dia-Gurren. I'll be there to join you soon" Simon said, "But there's someone I need see first."

The group cheered again as something broke through the bedrock next to him. Lagann was there waiting for him when he turned around. " _I'm back, Lagann,"_ Simon thought. He jumped into the cockpit and put his new core drill into the keyhole.

"I'm coming, Nia."


	5. Spirit

_Chapter 5:_

 _Spirit_

"Sir, the miniature Gunmen is nowhere to be found. What do you suggest we do?"

"Don't give me that! It has to be here somewhere! Put your backs into it and find it now! Tear the whole ship apart if you have to, I don't care! Just bring me that Gunmen!"

"Y-Yes, of course!"

So far, only one of the mission's main objectives has been completed so far, and the most important task was yet to be completed. The human's miniature Gunmen was a major concern for Guame's forces, and yet, they have yet to pinpoint its location. They feared the stories they had heard of two humans and their outrageous exploits with a stolen mech and a tiny head, the powerhouse known as Gurren Lagann.

Nia knew this much from the way Guame paced anxiously around the Dia-Gurren's control. Unbeknownst to them, their fears were about to become a reality. Lagann was still in the trash heap last time Nia saw it and considering Simon was the only one who could make it move, she had her suspicions that he was planning something. If Lagann was still lying among the trash, Guame's men would have found it by now.

"Why are you in such a panic, Guame? Are you afraid of what these humans can do to you? What Simon can do?" Nia asked, putting on a brave face. Being defiant here maybe wasn't the best strategy, but in seeing the weakness of the enemy, Nia couldn't help but taunt them. For how powerful and mighty them and their massive armies act, they haven't made much progress.

"What? Me, scared of a couple of barbarians? Don't make me laugh. There isn't a single thing these humans or this 'Simon' person can do to weaken me or the capital. To believe it any other way is illogical," Guame replied.

"You're wrong."

"Huh? And why would that be, _princess_?" he said with a mocking emphasis on title of princess.

"It is because they reject logic that they are able to progress. If we accept defeat before the battle even starts, how can one expect to attain victory. That's why you won't win. You have no drive for self-betterment. They are constantly progressing, while you remain here, stagnating in your own pompousness," Nia replied. She could feel, something, starting to brew within her. A feeling unlike any other. A power, limitless and flowing, building up with every word, every feeling.

"I don't need to take this from you, weakling. It is clear that your naivety will be your limiting factor. I no longer see any use in your existence," Guame said as he pulled out a gun and placed it on her head.

"Do it, if you think you can beat us. I refuse to yield to death, not now, not ever!" She could feel the latent energy take shape within her body. The shackles restraining her hands seemed to begin to feel weaker. "If you think killing me will bring you closer to victory, you are sorely mistaken!" A crack formed in the wood. "Nothing will stop us! Every day, we will move forward! Every day, a little bit stronger than the last, until finally, there's nowhere left to go! Only then, will we be able to carve our own path! To tomorrow, to the future!"

Nia pulled apart the wooden handcuffs in a sudden explosion of strength and knocked Guame's gun away from her head and slammed it into the wall beside her.. All the energy the felt building up within her was now flowing out freely and fluidly. She gave off a radiant green aura as she stared the now powerless Guame down.

"Impossible! What the hell? How can you be able to possess such spiral power? You! A measly doll, an afterthought of the mighty Lordgenome! I don't believe it! How could this have happened?" Guame said in a panic.

"You know how, Guame. This is the power of the human spirit!" she delivered a swift spinning kick to Guame's head, sending him flying out of the window of the control room.

Behind her, the floor split as Lagann came crashing into the ceiling, suspending itself upside down. The cockpit opened and Simon appeared, his hair and cape dangling down below him. Aside from his battered and bruised body, his eyes were bright and he wore a radiant smile. This was undoubtedly this was the most ecstatic Nia had ever seen him, or anyone for that matter. He seemed to be rather surprised as well to see her in such a powerful and confident stance, as he stared on in awe.

"T-That energy…" Simon whispered to himself. "Isn't that spiral power?"

"Nia! Come on!" he yelled.

"Right!" she replied happily.

Nia ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his torso, suspending all of her weight on his hanging body. It was a wonder that they both didn't fall into the hole below them that Lagann had created to drill its way here. Simon hit the gas and drilled straight up through the rest of the Dia-Gurren's body, propelling them both high into the air.

They hung there for a while, taking in the view of the rugged terrain below them and the vast expanse of the world they fought so hard to free. The midday sun shone brightly amidst the blue sky, and just for a moment, Simon and Nia were just another light in the sky. The wind whipped about at their hair as they sat looking down upon the land. It was like the first day Simon had arrived on the surface, except now, he was having this experience by the strength of his own will. So much had happened since then, learning about the Gunmen, visiting Littner, stealing Gurren, fighting Viral, manly combining, meeting Leeron and Rossiu, Kamina's death, and meeting Nia. Every event, every action, every emotion, every breath, all of it crescendoing into this one moment, this second. This was the high point, the peak, the entire point of all of it. The feeling was incredible. Simon turned to Nia and gave her a warm smile. This was her first time being able to see the world from this perspective.

"Sorry It took me so long. Well, it looked like you were handling things pretty well on your own actually." Simon said.

"No, I appreciate you coming more than you know. It's all thanks to you that I found something within myself. The strength of the human spirit. And it seems you found something in yourself as well."

"Yeah, I think I finally understand now. My Bro helped me see things through. It's just… I'm ashamed that I couldn't have been here for you sooner. I've made some inexcusable mistakes recently… and I want you to know that I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Simon." Nia wasn't quite sure what he was referring to, but she was just happy to see he was confident and happy now. "Progressing, becoming better that the person you were before. Isn't that what the human spirit is all about?"

Simon couldn't find anything to say to that. This was still the same person he met in a box who didn't even know about her own species, and now, she had advanced and became someone who he could look up to, someone who he could depend on indefinitely. It hadn't really dawned on him until now, but he _loved_ Nia. And it was definitely not in the same way he thought he loved Yoko. Looking back, he never did. He was young and ignorant then, only knowing what immature children in his village would describe as now, after meeting Nia, he could see that it was something more complicated. It was more than just hot babes and sexy outfits, it was about finding someone who _understood_ you, who could make you a better person. Simon was positive Nia was that person for him, but now was not the time or the place to go over this with her. Right now, humanity had a battle to be won. He gave Nia one last look before placing his hands back onto the controls.

"Wait, move you hands Simon," Nia asked. He complied, not quite sure what she had planned.

Nia placed her hands on the controls in the same way Simon did. She took a deep breath and looked like she was concentrating intensely. She squeezed the handles slowly and, much to Simon's surprise, the spiral meter began to explode with energy. Nia could _use_ spiral power.

"Okay," she said, "Let's do this together!"

"Right!" Simon placed his hands on top of hers and the spiral meter continued to fill up even more. She gave him an understanding nod as they began their descent back into the battle after their brief respite together.

As they neared the Dia-Gurren, they could see what must be Guame's custom Gunmen, the Gember; an armadillo-like mech with a defensive design. It was laying waste to Gurren, who was struggling to fight back under the behemoth's crushing weight.

"Rossiu!" he yelled into the comms.

"Simon?"

"Let's combine!"

"Uh, right!"

Simon thrust Lagann down on top of Gurren as the two mechs fused together into the universal symbol of hope for freedom of the human race, Gurren Lagann. Simon opened the cockpit and stood confidently looking down on Guame's Gunmen. Nia rose to stand beside him taking an equally powerful stance.

"My Bro is dead. He's gone. But he's on my back! In my heart! And lives on as a part of me!" Simon yelled. He thrust his arm into the air and pointed towards the heavens, mich in the way that Kamina would when he would give one of his speeches.

"If you're going to dig, dig for the heavens! Even if it's my own grave I'm digging, I keep going! Once I've dug my way through that means I've won."

"What are going on about now?" Guame asked as he watched the spectacle taking place before him.

"I'm Simon. I'm not my Bro, I'm ME! Simon the Digger! And if you try and tie us down..!"

"We'll break through!" Nia finished.

"If there's a wall in our way"

"We'll tear it down!"

"If there's nowhere to go"

"We'll make our own path!"

"That's what Gurren Lagann is all about!" they said in unison. "We'll teach you not to underestimate the power of humanity! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE!?"

They stabbed the Gember with the drills that had materialized from Gurren Lagann's hands, knocking it away easily.

"Save it! I'm not interested in your useless feelings!" Guame yelled, transforming his Gunmen into a more human like shape with two arms and legs. "Gember Press!"

He leaped at Gurren Lagann with surprising speed, wrapping his massive arms around them in an attempt to crush Gurren Lagann. The overwhelming strength of Gember was taking a toll on Simon and Nia, who were both giving it all they had to resist the attack. One should expect no less from one of the Spiral Kings four Divine Generals. But they weren't even close to being at the end of their rope yet.

In an instant, drills erupted from all sides of Gurren Lagann's body, creating the much needed distance between the two titans. This was the time to strike, the opening they had been anticipated.

All the time Simon spent with Kamina flashed through his mind in an instant. Something clicked inside his head as he decided how he was going to end this.

"Finishing move!" Simon yelled as he threw the pair of Kamina's glasses that was attached to the mech for coolness factor. It swooped Gember up high into the air and stretched him out, leaving its weak midsection completely exposed. Whatever bizarre connection they were sharing now seemed to influence Nia, as she knew exactly what to do. Each of them pushed the controls up a hard as they could and poured all of their spiral power into it.

"GIGA…!" they said in unison. "DDRRRIIIILLLLLLLL…! BBBBRRRREEEEEAAAAKKKKKKKK!" they screamed with passion as a massive drill sprouted from Lagann's head and the whole mech propelled itself forward. They drove clean through Gember's body, leaving behind a massive hole. Gurren Lagann landed back onto the deck of the ship while Gember exploded violently behind them.

Guame fell out of the sky and then proceed to sound the retreat and headed for the hills along with the rest of his group.

Simon and Nia took a second to catch their breath after unleashing their most devastating attack. The day was won, another one of the Four Generals had fallen to the hands of team Dia-Gurren.

Nia was the first one to break the silence. "Simon, there's someplace that I'd like you to take me."


	6. Respite

_Chapter 6:_

 _Respite_

The patchy midday sunlight illuminated the landscape that lay before them. It was a familiar sight for Simon, but coming back in this context made the view all the more sombering to him.

"These are all the princesses who were thrown away like I was. Generation after generation of princesses who came before me," Nia explained. After the battle with Guame, the team had returned to where Simon had first found Nia by her request. It was a truly sombering sight, knowing all these people could have had such bright lives only to be wasted by a man with no morals. And the same thing easily could have happened to Nia, if it weren't for Simon. He would never forgive Lordgenome for this atrocity. This was murder, and he wouldn't sit idly by and watch this happen.

"I'd like to give them all a proper burial in a sunny place. Please." Nia's voice was somber and sincere. It must be hard for her as well to see what could have happened to her. It seemed like a hint of her royal lineage was showing itself now in the way she wanted to care for her people.

"Yeah, you got it! Let's get to work everyone!" Kittan said.

Work was efficient with the help of the Gunmen. They were able to dig holes quickly with their large arms and delicately moving each container into the holes was no problem. Some people set out to collect wooden spires to plant above each completed grave. Not one member of the usually jovial group cracked a single joke for the whole time they were working, only giving each other sad looks. Simon and Nia stayed put and oversaw the whole process from atop a hill. Well, it was mostly Nia directing the process, Simon was just there to try and provide emotional support as well as he could.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this." Simon eventually spoke up after a while. He felt like he had to say something.

"No, it's not your fault," Nia replied. "Father did this to them. There was nothing anyone could have done."

"I guess you're right… but I'm going to make sure he doesn't go unpunished for this. As someone with the strength to stand up to him, it falls into my hands to be the one to deliver justice."

There was some silence. "I want to help you too. I no longer have any chance of being accepted back into the capital. I would likely be executed upon being discovered. So, I'm going to stay with you, Simon."

"I would be happy to have you here with me," Simon replied. Even though she probably had never intended or wanted to have to join a ragtag group like this, Simon was overjoyed that she was going to stay with them.

"If it's not too much to ask… I ask that you train me," she said resolutely.

"Train you? In what way?" Simon had no idea where she was going with this conversation. What could she possibly want to learn?

"I want you to train me to become stronger, as a fighter, I mean." It wasn't like Nia to stumble around words like this, Simon knew what she was trying to say. He was positive now that Nia was able to use spiral power, after what she did to Guame and how she piloted Lagann alongside him.

"How much do you know about spiral power Nia?"

"Spiral power? I don't believe I am familiar with it." She looked like she was digging into the depths of her memories to uncover any information she may have received at some point. It made sense that because her father was trying to suppress spiral power that he wouldn't teach his children about it, especially since he was just going to throw them away anyways.

"Okay, so we're starting from scratch here. That's fine though, I'm sure you will be a great learner," he said. It was like Kamina had told him once: 'Listen Simon, the enemy can have as many numbers and as much experience as they want, but fighting spirit will always win. Never forget that'. And he had been correct. Without a bit of fighting experience, they had managed to make it this far against seemingly impossible odds.

"Thank you, Simon. For everything." Nia leaned against Simon and rested her head on his shoulder. Simon was a little startled by the sudden closeness but he wasn't about to let this moment pass him by. He wrapped his arm around her and kept it there as he watched the sun behind the horizon.

By the time the last wooden pike was drove into the ground, the sun had already disappeared and the stars in the sky shone brightly over them.

"My whole life, I've spent it believing in Father. Relying on no one but him. I wanted to believe in hm to the very end. So, can I rewrite my life from this point?" Nia asked herself.

"Here. I want you to have this." Simon held out a deep green stone that shone under the moonlight. "I found it while I was digging." It was his most precious possession he had. He had found it when he was digging the escape tunnel back during the earthquake in the colony. He's carried it in his pocket ever since as a reminder of the inspiration his Bro had provided for him, but it served a different purpose. Bro was gone now after all, so it was time that he stopped relying on his support and started being independent.

"Thank you Simon! It's beautiful!" Nia marveled at its luster and gripped it tightly in her hands.

"It's kinda hard to explain, but it doesn't really matter who you were back then. Only the person you are now can influence the world. Whether or not you're a princess changes nothing, so just keep being you Nia and take pride in it." Nia's eyes started tearing up. Not out of sadness of course, she was glad that she was able to find people who were willing to accept and support her so easily.

"Yeah, that's more like it! That's the team Dai-Gurren way! Isn't that right, leader?" Kittan said slapping Simon hard on the back.

"Leader?!" Simon exclaimed. He gazed at all the faces that had gathered around him, every one of them smiling and supportive

"Of course. No doubt you're the one Kamina wanted for the job!"

"The name you gave it is pretty half-assed though," Yoko said tauntingly.

"Hey. C'mon, it isn't that bad!" Simon was on the defensive. He thought the name was pretty clever actually.

"Yeah, you're right about that one Yoko. It could use a little work!" Kittan joked.

The whole group shared a laugh with that one. Nia wiped away the tears that had been welling up in her eyes and laughed along with them.

"So leader, what's next?" Kittan asked.

"Tonight, we set off for Teppelin to confront the Spiral King himself!" Simon rallied the team's spirits even higher with those words.

"Yeah!" they all yelled in response.

"Ready to go, Nia?" Simon questioned. He would understand if she wanted to stay here for a while longer.

"I am. It's time to move forward, and leave the past behind." She took one last look at the graves before taking Simon's hand as he led her back to Gurren Lagann. They sat down in the cockpit together and joined the rest of the group in the march back to the Dia-Gurren.

* * *

Once they had finished securing all the Gunmen in the hangar, most members of the team began heading off to their beds for the night. Most of them had been up for over 18 hours now, as they were most days, so naturally after being imprisoned, breaking out, fighting a general, and digging at least fifty graves, all they wanted to do was sleep. Simon was about to head to bed with them when he remembered he still had to work out sleeping arrangements for Nia. Now that he was officially the leader, decisions like these were now his problem.

"Alright Nia, I'm sure you're going to want to go to sleep tonight, so where do you want to stay? We have open rooms all around the whole ship, so take your pick," Simon said.

"Hmm, are there any rooms near yours? I think I'd like to stay somewhere near you. I don't want to sleep close to anyone who will make a lot of noise…" Nia looked like she was recalling some bad memories when she said that. Simon wasn't sure what kind of… things… Nia would have been forced to sleep next to back in the castle.

"Luckily for you, all the rooms on my hall are vacant." And that's the way he liked it. He had the same line of thinking Nia did, nobody ever had woken him up once for being too loud.

"Great!" she said enthusiastically. It was nice to see that she wasn't taking being cast out by her father too hard. Of course, Simon knew a thing or two about concealing emotions. He made a mental not to console her about it later.

"Hmm, don't go running off alone together too soon," Leeron said in his usual odd voice. He adding a wink at the end that cemented the hidden meaning in his words. Nia, as usual, failed to pick up on Leeron's subliminal messages. "I want to see you both in the conference room tomorrow morning. I won't make wake up at dawn to meet me though, I'll give you some time in case you would need it."

"That's very considerate of you! Thank you, Leeron," Nia said, again, completely oblivious.

"Don't worry about it. Just make sure not to have too much fun."

Simon pulled Nia out into the hall before Leeron could say anything more.

"Our rooms are this way." He led her down a flight of stairs and turned right down one of the halls and walked all the way to the end before stopping. "The one right here is mine." He pointed to a white door on the corner of the hallway.

"In that case, I'll take this one here." She pulled the key out of the doorknob and stepped inside. All the rooms were a basic 1 bed and 1 nightstand next to bed layout.

"Wow, it's incredible!" Incredible is not quite how Simon would describe it, but as long as Nia was happy with it, words didn't really matter.

"Well, I'm turning in for the night. Sometime tomorrow, we'll have to find someone who can make some more clothes for you. Right now, your wardrobe is very limited. You'll need something to sleep in."

"Right, have a good rest, Simon." She turned and shut the door behind her. Simon did the same.

He layed down on his bed, not bothering to take anything off except his jacket. Sleep wouldn't come easily to him, there was so much to think about. All of the recent events that he didn't have much time to reflect on came back all at once.

" _Bro… he really came back. Or was it really him, or just my imagination. Actually, I'm pretty sure no vision could ever replicate Bro's manliness, no fantasy is that powerful. That really had to be him, which means he came from some kind of afterlife. I can't believe I had let myself drift so far away into despair. Far enough where the only thing that could snap me out was Bro belting me one. I won't have that option again in the future, I need to keep myself in check. But now, whatever problems I'm having Nia could probably help me sort them out. She seems to be pretty wise for her naivety. And back when we were fighting Guame, she could use spiral power. Why? I thought it was only me who could use it, but that wouldn't make sense. The only reason I can is because of my core drill, it must have awakened something within me. Did something similar happen to her? In any case, she'll be a valuable asset to the team. Having another spiral power user will definitely benefit us. I'm not sure how much I can train her like she asked me to, but I'm sure I can teach her a few things about how to use it. But that's only stuff that's battle related. How I feel about her is another thing. She's such a nice person, modest, passionate, I think that's something that I want. I'm not sure how much time we'll have to spend together in that way with a war going on… but when this is all over, maybe we could settle down. That's assuming she would even like me that way. And that's assuming we both make it out of here alive. I haven't had any really close calls yet, but if Kamina died, any of us could be next. But I won't let that happen. I'll keep everyone safe, and they aren't helpless either. The future isn't really important right now, I should probably stick to the present. Right now, first priority is making sure I can beat the Spiral King when the time comes. That'll be hard but I can do it, especially of Nia's there to help me through it."_

Simon went on thinking about possibilities of what may happen for what felt like hours until a hesitant knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Simon asked. It was a silly question. Who else _would_ it be, but he asked anyway.

"It's just me," Nia said in a soft voice. "Would you mind if I came in?" she asked politely.

"You can."

She opened the door slowly, as if it would wake someone. She hesitated to walk in for a second, instead she just looked at Simon with her hands clasped in front of her. Simon gave her an inviting smirk and that seemed to be her mental invitation to come on in. She shut the door behind her as slowly as she had opened it. Simon turned on the lamp that he had on his nightstand and illuminated the room in a dim light. To Simon's surprise, she had changed into some short white nightclothes. It looked pretty cute on her and it matched her hair pretty well.

"Where did you get those clothes?" he asked in a slightly hushed voice, hoping that was her cue that she could talk without having to whisper.

"Oh, this?" she said picking up the skirt a little to look at it himself. "Old Coco made it for me. It's lovely, don't you think?"

"Yeah, he did a nice job making it. You look nice in it too." She blushed a little in response to that last bit. Even though she may not know as much about flirting as Simon did, who had learned from Kamina, she seemed to at least be able to pick up on what he meant.

"Sorry to wake you at this hour, but I couldn't sleep very well." She took a seat on the bed. The beds had plenty of room considering the Beastmen they were made for could come rather large as well.

"It's okay Nia. I wasn't getting any sleep myself either. There's been some stuff on my mind. Lots of things happened all at once lately, y'know," Simon said while staring at the ceiling wistfully.

"Yes, it feels like it was only a few days ago that I was still living my life in the palace. Looking back, I can see how lonely it had been for me. Nobody wanted to spend time with me, including Father…" she trailed off mid thought, looking like she was going to cry for a second. Picking up on that, Simon scooted closer to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry that you had to live like that, but keep in mind that you aren't alone anymore. I'm here if you need me, and so is the rest of the team," he said with a comforting tone.

"I know and I'm very grateful for your kindness, but… I can't help but feel that I've lost someone irreplaceable. Even if Father never cared for me, part of me still wants to hold on to those memories. It's sad, isn't it."

"Don't think like that!" Simon scolded. "Those kinds of thoughts only leads to sadness and despair. I may never understand what you're feeling, and I can't tell you you're wrong for feeling that way, but know the pain of losing someone you love too. If you let that hold you back, you may never recover. I know, I became that way when my Bro died…"

"I-I'm sorry. It's just… everything feels so complicated now. Back in the castle, even if my life was unfulfilling, it was at least simple and seemingly enjoyable. I've had to leave that all to come to this place now where we fight to kill the man who I put my life behind. Even with everyone who shows me such kindness, I can sometimes feel the ill hearted looks some of the team gives me. They know I'm their enemy, and blame me for what's happened to them and the rest of humanity…"

"Then they're ignorant and unforgiving for blaming you for their hardships. I can understand where those feelings are coming from, being someone who was locked away underground, but that doesn't make it acceptable. But we're not all perfect. Keep in mind, we're still just a ragtag group of freedom fighters who have been together for less than a few months now. This life… wasn't what Bro had envisioned when we made our escape to the surface. Sometimes it's too easy to forget that this was never our intention at all, to be the one's with the responsibility to free humanity. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way as well, so I can understand some of the resentment he crew may have for you. But, they don't know that you've had it hard too. I'll make sure everyone comes around soon, it's my job as a leader to make sure everyone working together, right?"

Nia choose not to respond, or was just too deep in thought to answer. She climbed onto the be fully now and pulled her legs in close to her chest and wrapped her arm's around them. After a while, she spoke her mind.

"If it isn't insensitive for me to ask, who was your Bro? I can tell he was someone very important to you, and everyone else here" Nia made sure to be sensitive there, knowing it was probably a touchy subject for Simon.

"Who was Bro? It's not easy to really explain him, you kinda had to meet him to really understand. That's the kind of person he was. My Bro was a great person; he was kind, strong, and always looked out for me when nobody else did. My parents died when I was a child, so I was lonely as a kid like you were. Bro was the only one who wanted to be my friend. Other people in my village would tell me I'm ugly and that I smelled bed, but Bro never said things like that. He was always looking ahead, trying to accomplish some grand task. He led us out of the underground to the surface one day, that was always his dream. After that, he fought for freedom against the Gunmen with me and Yoko. He was never a person who would run away from a fight. Even against impossible odds, he never ran, never felt fear. That's what probably ended up getting him killed, that recklessness in the face of death. I looked up to him. I aspired to be like him, kind and fearless. Without him, I was nothing. When he died in battle one day, I couldn't recover from the emotional loss as well as the strain I put on myself to try and operate without him. Those feelings of sadness and doubt fed into each other, until I collapsed under the weight. I made some… very regrettable decisions in that time, more that you know, and I'm not sure what may have happened to me if Bro hadn't helped me one last time. That's the kind of man he was, keeping me in mind even in death…" There was so much more Simon could say, but he figured that he should let the topic go for his own sake.

"He sounds like a great man," Nia said somberly. "I'm sorry you had to see him go so abruptly. You're right when you say I can never _really_ understand him. I can tell the connection you two have is deeper then you let on. Depending on one another for support, bringing out the best in one another, working together to reach the same goal and never quitting. From what you described, I can see parts of him in you. Never giving up, fearless in the face of the enemy, looking out for others, those are good qualities."

Hearing those words brought back out some of the doubt Simon had had about himself. Those are the words he needed to hear, but not now, and not from her. "I can really never live up to his example. Even if I try as hard as I can to be just like him, I never will be. His leadership was always flawless, it inspired us and brought on hope. I just… can't do that in the way he did."

Nia sat up and slammed her hand down into the bed and struck Simon with a fierce gaze. "That's silly, Simon!" Nia said frustratedly. "Of course you can't be exactly like your Bro because you aren't him! Two people can't be the same, so don't bother trying to be. You'd be setting yourself up for failure. His strengths and shortcomings won't be the same as yours, so don't beat yourself up for not being able to _be_ him. Just be _you_ , Simon. I may not be able to speak for everyone, but that's all I want, and I'm sure that's what your Bro would have wanted to see."

Nia's words cut deep into Simon and resonated with his very soul. If he didn't need to hear her tell him how he was like Kamina, then he needed to hear that he didn't have to be. "I-... You… You're right. I don't need to be him as long as people are satisfied with me just being me."

She gave him an approving nod and smile.

"My Bro and I, we worked so well because it just so happened that our best qualities fixed the other's worst qualities. My fearfulness saved him from his recklessness and his recklessness kept me away from my fear. That's synergy, and that is where a truly special bond lies." Simon finally got it now. After a push from Kamina and being led the rest of the way by Nia, he drilled through the mental barrier he had put up for himself fully. In the same way that Kamina had covered up his flaws with manly bravado, Nia could fix them with her compassionate and understanding nature. Someone that brought out his worst, and found ways to mend it, that's a different kind of special bond, and Simon realized that.

"Thank you, Nia. I think that's exactly what I needed to hear from you, and only you could have done it. The special bond I had with my Bro, I can feel it with you to. Helping me progress, evolving from the person we were yesterday. That's something to cherish."

"I feel the same way. I can tell that the kind of bond we have is not like the ones I have with the other members of the group. This feels more… exclusive, as if not everyone will be able to complete me the way I feel that you do. It's hard to explain for me… I'm sure there's some way to say it better. Your group comes up with lots of terms that I didn't learn in the castle, but I can tell that this one is special. I want you to lead me through this life, Simon. I don't want to have to walk this path alone."

"I know that's something I can manage to do, and I don't need to be anyone else but me." There was something genuine in Nia having to explain her feelings without being able to just use the one word that sums it all up easily. Any doubts in his mind that he had harbored about how their relationship would work out were now all stamped out by this point. Their feelings for each other would only grow even stronger now as time progresses. Feeling the conversation was resolved now, Simon moved closer to Nia and looked her in the eyes. She returned the gaze with a soft smile and a look that could only be described as loving. Simon pulled her into his arms and held her there. Understanding the gesture, she wrapped her arms around him as well and rested her head on his shoulder. They spent some time like that, knowing that moments like these were going to be far and few between, being stuck in the middle of a war. But those thoughts stayed far away from both of their minds as they decided to spend this time enjoying each other's presence. She was soft and delicate, like Simon had thought of her when they first met, but now after the time he recently spent with her, he could feel the quiet strength of will that she had hidden within her. Just as it is rare for Simon to completely open himself up to someone. It was the same for Nia. Simon could see the parts of her that had been covered up by her cheerful presentation, and Nia could see who Simon was on his own when he wasn't trying to be like Kamina. Without saying a word, they collectively decided to keep their exclusive knowledge of each other to themselves to preserve the nature of their relationship.

Making sure that the hug didn't overstay its welcome, Simon slowly pulled himself away from Nia and lied down next to her.

"I think I'll just stay here for tonight," she said sleepily as she lied down next to him. This presented an unforeseen problem for Simon; Nia's lack of knowledge of relationship secrecy and sexual etiquette. Deciding he would have to draw all the boundary lines himself, he came to a few quick conclusions. With both of them only being 14, he would make sure to never go beyond holding hands with her in bed. Actually, sleeping in the same bed with her was already crossing the line, but he wasn't about to leave, not a chance. As for relationship secrecy, he would have to explain to Nia that what they did in private was not to be told to anyone else, if she did not already know. Naturally, some aspects will change as time goes on, but for now, he would have respect for her and not use her lack of knowledge in these matters as means by which to take advantage of her. He felt like he was negotiating peace terms with himself. Realizing that his tired brain could not handle much more, he turned on his side to look at Nia, who had done the same thing and met his gaze. She let out a yawn and closed her eyes, falling into a peaceful sleep only a few minutes later. Watching the slow rise and fall of the blankets on top of Nia eventually put Simon into the deepest sleep he had had in years.

* * *

Simon rose late the next morning feeling fully rested and completely regenerated. He found Nia in the same spot, still sleeping. He recalled Leeron telling them to make sure that they met him in the morning for an 'important meeting'. Then he remembered Leeron telling them to take their time if they 'needed it together'. Simon realized that Leeron knew what he and Nia were going to end up doing last night and made sure to compensate his schedule to make sure they weren't rushed. He didn't know whether to feel glad for his thoughtfulness of embarrassed for being so readable, but then again, it was Leeron they were talking about. This kind of thing was his 'specialty' as he had said before when he noticed the way Kamina and Yoko would act around each other.

Deciding that it would probably be best to let Nia wake up when she was ready, Simon decided on staying in bed for a while. Eventually she pushed herself up and stretched her arms out towards the ceiling, letting out a tired yawn.

"You're up early," Simon teased. Nia had yet to actually open her eyes, so she was startled when she remembered that Simon was still there with her.

"How long have you been awake," she asked groggily. Simon decided now would be a good time to start learning Nia's sleep habits, they would be useful for later. The first thing he wrote in his mental list was that Nia was not a morning person.

"Not too long. I figured you wanted to wake up on your own, so I left you alone." Simon slid off the bed and walked over to his nightstand where he picked out his outfit for the day.

"Thank you for that," Nia said, also getting off the bed but with a little less grace. "I'm going to go and get changed for today, I'll be right back." With that, she stumbled out of the room and left Simon alone to change. He wasn't wearing anything different today, just the regular shorts and jacket, neglecting to wear a shirt yet again out of tradition. Kamina did it, he did it, some things will never need to change. He pulled off the goggles he wore on his head and inspected them; they were looking rather dull. Using his shirt, he rubbed them down and removed a noticeable amount of dirt.

"Good as new," Simon thought. With that he was complete. Making sure he smoothed out his bed for tonight, he stepped outside and waited for Nia outside her door. Breakfast would be the first stop, then the control room for briefing, finally to the conference room with Leeron. Stopping by the control room for briefing would be a first for him, but as leader he considered it his job to know the plans for the day.

Simon heard the doorknob turn and Nia stepped out, again wearing a new outfit probably made by Old Coco. It was the usual pink color scheme, with a pink undershirt and a darker pink jacket that resembled the one he wore. Yet again, it looked rather goon on Nia.

"More new clothes?" Simon remarked.

"Right! Old Coco is truly talented. These are great!" Nia seemed to have gotten over her early morning sleepiness and was energetic and cheerful again. She did a quick turn around so Simon could see the marvel that is Old Coco's craftsmanship. Of course, that's not what caught his eye. On the back of Nia's jacket was the recently minted Team Dai-Gurren symbol, with Kamina's signature glasses being the main design aspect. Flags with that symbol had been being put up all over the ship and now, it had extended to clothing as well. The bonds grow stronger once again.

"We should probably head to the dining hall now, we wouldn't want to miss out on breakfast." Saying that reminded Simon that he hadn't eaten for well over a day and was starving as a result.

"Okay! Lead the way, Simon."

They walked side by side to the dining hall where they found that nobody was working there at the moment.

"That's too bad, looks like we missed out on breakfast. For now we'll just have to eat whatever we can find that's pre prepared," Simon said. It was unfortunate, but they usually had something to eat in case someone was to miss breakfast. Looking through the cabinets that were fully stocked with foods of all sorts, Simon and Nia had to settle for basic grain cereal. They filled up two bowls and took a seat at one of the tables. The food didn't taste awful, it just didn't have a taste at all really. Usually, Simon would make it in time to eat whatever someone had made for everyone to eat, whether it was good or not depended on the cook. While they did have doctors on board, chefs were not as useful in many cases so ultimately the decision was made to have normal crew members do the cooking.

"Wouldn't it be nice if I could cook?" Nia asked with a dreamy look. She was fantasizing about making high class foods and being a professional chef by the looks of it.

"Yeah, that would come in handy," Simon replied in between bites.

"I think I'll try and make something for you sometime, if you want me to that is." The way she said it was awfully shy for the way Nia usually talks. Simon figured she was just trying to be polite and not make Simon feel like he had to accept, especially if the food ended up tasting bad it would be completely Simon's fault for wanting to try it.

"That sounds fantastic," Simon said encouragingly. He really hoped Nia would turn out to be a fantastic cook. If she could make delicious meals for him every day in the future, that would be the right way to live. "You should give it a try when you have some free time. I'm sure it'll be great!"

"I will!" Simon had successfully given Nia something to look forward to for later. If she really did intend on wanting to be trained, which she did, she would want something to see as a reward for motivation. Training wasn't easy or fun when Kamina would work with Simon, so he always tried to have some kind of reward in mind for when they were done. It helped with motivation.

Once the two finished eating their lackluster meal, they headed off to the main control room. When they arrived, they found the usual workers there toiling away at their tasks with Leeron being the director and Dayakka making decisions.

"So-um… What's the plan right now?" Simon asked. He was still a little nervous about being the leader now and wasn't sure if everyone would just start taking his orders. To his relief, they did.

"I've put in the coordinates for the capital, Teppelin. All we have to do now is go straight," Leeron explained. "Projected arrival time is in nine days, so make sure you're prepared. We also don't know what is between us and the capital, so try to stay on guard as well."

"I see… I will make sure everyone is ready for battle when the time comes. We'll show them the power of the human spirit," Simon said resolutely. Nia gave him an approving nod. It was nice to be supported.

"That we will Simon. But for now, we have other matters we need to discuss." Leeron turned to address Dayakka. "I'll be back, take things over in here, okay."

"No problem," Dayakka replied.

* * *

The conference room was dimly lit as Simon and Nia took their seats next to each other at one end of the round table while Leeron sat on the other end. It was only the three of them here, so Simon concluded that this must be something important.

"Alright let's get right down to business everyone," Leeron said in his chirpy voice. "Let me fill you in on the parts you two don't know yet. After the battle with Adaine, Nia was critically injured and rushed to intensive care immediately." Bringing back these sour memories wasn't the things he wanted to hear during this meeting, but he couldn't avoid what he did even if nobody other than Yoko knew it was his fault. "There, our medical staff did everything they could to heal her wounds, but it wasn't enough to save her." Simon balled his hands up into fists and squeezed as hard as he could to keep from hurting himself. In the rush after meeting with Kamina, he didn't give much thought to how Nia managed to survive such mortal wounds, but it looks like he was about to find out. "After her heart stopped beating, the totally unexpected happened." Leeron pulled up a video feed from the medical room on one of the monitors. Simon watched in awe as what he knew as spiral power began clumping over Nia's body before spinning wildly and plunging into her chest with a flash of light, and that's where the video cut off. It hurt Simon to see Nia barely hanging on by a thread, hooked up to all kinds of medical equipment fighting to keep her alive. The fact that she did indeed survive did nothing to ease the pain of watching someone close to him almost die again. Simon put those issues out of his mind for now, not to forget, but to resolve later. There were more pressing issues in this moment.

"As you can see," Leeron started back up again, "What appears to be spiral power manifested out of nothing and merged with Nia's body. Can you confirm that to be spiral power, Simon?"

"Yes. It looks exactly like it." He thought back to when he smashed his core drill and green particles went everywhere. Now that he was thinking about it, these two events must have happened at the same time.

"Is it possible… that it was my core drill that Nia absorbed?" Simon contemplated. He didn't know enough about spiral power to say that such a thing is even possible. He was dragged out of his thoughts by Leeron who began talking once again.

"I thought it was. After absorbing said spiral power, Nia's body made a rapid recovery, with her cell division rates increasing beyond what is normally possible to a human in order to regenerate her broken body. Shortly after that full recovery, she regained consciousness. It is easy to say that Nia has absorbed spiral power which has allowed her to make such an incredible recovery, but whether or not she can actually use it, I do not know…"

"I can and I have!" Nia spoke up for the first time. "I managed to defeat Guame with that power as well as give spiral energy to Lagann when I helped pilot it."

"You helped pilot Lagann? That should not be possible. Only Simon's spiral energy can be used to activate and power it, unless… your spiral energy is linked to Simon's. But how…" Leeron trailed off as he speculated possible causes.

"I think I know the answer to that." Simon didn't want anyone to know what he had done, but it was for a greater good. "For my own reasons… After that battle I smashed my core drill to pieces and it dissolved into particles exactly like the one's Nia absorbed. I believe that may have been what was my core drill that Nia absorbed…" He didn't look up. He didn't want to see if they reacted at all to his actions. He didn't want to know.

"You… smashed your drill Simon?" Nia could see some kind of anguish on his face. She couldn't believe what he was saying. Nia had a vague understanding that Simon had been going through some rough times when he found her, but this? How deep into despair did he really sink? And why didn't he console in her?

"That would explain why Nia can pilot Lagann. I have spent some of my spare time reading books from the ship's library on spiral power. We have a large stock of books on them. From what I read, I think maybe it is Lagann that reacts not to the spiral power of the user, but to the power within the core drill. I also believe that it is not Simon's spiral power that Nia is using, that isn't how it works. Instead, all humans possess their own spiral power, but it needs to be awakened first. Simon's spiral power awakened within him when he found the core drill, that's why only he could use it then. Nia, your power must have awakened when Simon's power kickstarted your spiral power and awakened it by force. Of course, this is all still only conjecture, but I do believe that this is the way it happened. But that still leaves one question; how do you still have a core drill if you smashed the other one, Simon?"

"I… I guess I made it myself. Before the battle against Guame I got really spirited and my new one just materialized out of thin air," Simon recalled.

"Incredible… Making something out of nothing… How is it possible? According to the laws that govern spiral power, one can create infinite amounts of matter or energy if one can. But, that idea prevents a problem to the laws of the universe; everything must have a limiting factor to keep it in check. That being said, there has to be something holding back spiral power from being able to do anything. Could it be… some kind of weird law of the universe we haven't discovered yet? Anyways, all that theoretical talk isn't really helpful now. That fact is, we have another person who has awakened the spiral power within them and that is something to celebrate. The more power we have the better. I suggest you two go and try to discover out more about this and test the limits of Nia's power. Maybe train her even? I'll leave that up to you leader. That's all I have to say."

"Thank you Leeron for your help and insight. We'll use this newfound knowledge to become stronger. As for us," Simon looked at Nia, "we have some training to do." With that, Simon and Nia took their leave.

* * *

"Let's head to somewhere with plenty of space. We'll need that for your training, that is, if you're wanting to start right now," Simon said as he led Nia down a stairwell that led deep into the ship.

"I'm ready if you are," she replied absentmindedly. Really, her training was the least of her worries for now. Hearing about what Simon had done back in the conference room had shaken her up.

"The look on his face… it was definitely self-resentment. Should I ask him if he's okay? Or will that make him angry or even more sad? No. He has decided to put his faith in me for support and I will not let him down, even if it means hurting his feeling. I can tell he's already suffered in silence enough," Nia thought as they continued to weave in and out of hallways. She knew standing idly by would get them nowhere.

"Simon, are you okay?" she asked, making sure to be as caring and compassionate as possible.

"Of course I am. Don't worry about it." He gave her a little rub on the head with that. This only angered her, he wasn't taking her seriously at all. There was no way he was just okay all of a sudden.

"Don't lie to me. I saw the look on your face back in the conference room. Pain and anguish. You should know by now that denying those feelings only makes them worse!" Nia found herself starting to boil over. She knew she had no reason to be angry, but she wasn't going to watch Simon beat himself up again.

"That's why I'm not rejecting my feelings, I choose to accept them and try and become stronger because of it. I don't like being mopey and pitying myself, so I won't. You don't want that. I don't want that. Nobody does. Sadness and self-resentment don't make me progress, they're the course of regression. To give into them would be disrespectful to everything you and Kamina have taught me. So I'm not going to. I'll move forward and see past mistakes as a chance to improve myself. That's all there is to it. I understand now."

Simon gave Nia a genuine smile of happiness and that completely eased her worries. Everything he said made perfect sense. What is the point in having life changing, heartfelt moments if you're not going to learn anything from them. She could see that Simon had too much respect for her to go back on the things they said to each other last night.

"I'm glad you feel that way. I can't stand to watch you suffer by your own volition, especially when there is so much to be happy about." She flashed Simon a suggestive wink that she picked up from Leeron. She wasn't quite sure if now was the appropriate time to do something like that, she was still trying to learn how to fit in better. Simon smiled in reaction to the gesture, so as far as Nia was concerned, that was the right place to do that.

"Alright. Let's get started." Simon opened a large bulkhead door that lay in front of them. Once it parted, Nia could see a massive expanse of open space that she assumed was going to be their training spot. Simon walked inside and Nia fell in behind him.

"How's this for a training area, huh? This was the ship's old hangar where they stored the mass-produced type Gunmen. Because we keep our Gunmen on the deck hangar for quick deployment, this room goes completely unused. It's the perfect place for this kind of thing!" Simon was getting really excited at the prospect getting to test Nia's abilities and make her into someone he could depend on for battles as well. Nia was also excited to see what she could do with spiral power, even without really knowing anything about it.

"So where do we start?" she prompted, eager to get started.

"Huh? Um-I-well-. I haven't actually thought of any ways to train you. This whole thing is still pretty new to me as well. Sorry," Simon had a pretty ashamed look on his face for being caught off guard by something that he should have been ready for. Nia decided she would take control of this then, even if she was the trainee.

"How about teaching me how to use spiral power? Would that be a good place to start?"

"Yeah, good idea. Outside of piloting Lagann, I haven't found many uses for it. I need a conduit by which to transfer my energy, but there are some ways I've come up with to practice controlling and increasing my spiral power output. You probably already know, but spiral power is directly related to the strength of spirit. If you were able to use it against Guame, it's because emotions were running high. So just keep in mind that any power you can use here will be amplified in an actual battle. So first, try and focus all of your latent power into a single point, like this." Simon closed his eyes and held out his palm in front of him. Within a few seconds of intense concentration, a small green drill began to materialize above his open palm. The light grew stronger until the drill looked solid and then Simon grabbed it in his palm. He opened his hand to show a freshly created drill that only moments ago didn't exist. And then, it vanished.

"Incredible!" Nia was elated at the possibility that she may also be able to do the same thing.

"You should give it a try now Nia. Just make sure to focus. It can only work if you're taking this seriously. Keep in mind, we're preparing for a war that will determine the fate of humanity. This is not to be taken lightly."

"Right." Nia put the excitement out of her mind for now and focused as hard as she could on a single point. She placed her hand in front of her as Simon had done and thought only of succeeding. After a few seconds with no progress, she began to have doubts that she could really do this.

"Why can't I use my spiral power? Leeron and Simon both told me I could, so why won't my body respond. Were they mistaken? I'm not cut out for this kind of thing… I wasn't made to be a fighter, but then again I wasn't made to do anything."

Spirits down, Nia gave in. "I can't do it Simon. I'm sorry to let you down." She looked away not wanting to make eye contact. She set herself up for failure by actually expecting to be able to posses such power.

"The hell you can't do it! Are you even trying? We don't have time to slack, either do it or don't waste time," Simon scolded in an angry voice. Clearly he was getting frustrated with her.

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have given you any false hope. I should just leave and try and make myself useful somewhere else." She began running toward the door that led back to the main part of the ship. She needed to get away. Before she could reach the door, something whizzed by her head, narrowly missing her. It crashed into the wall and made a large hole.

"What the hell do you think you're doing running away?! You can't succeed if you don't try! You're a human being, Nia! You're destined for greatness, so why would you throw it all away on a fleeting emotion?! Don't waste this chance! Reject reality and make the impossible possible! All of your soul, your emotions, your humanity, harness it all into a single point and break through the barrier of probability! Use your spirit and show me what you're made of!" Simon rallied the same defiance deep within her that she used against Guame and put her emotions to the boiling point.

Nia held out her hand one more time and this time she felt something stirring within her. The will to power through any obstacle, the strength of her human spirit. Everything that had happened to her. All of it condensed into one point; spirit. She let out a determined cry as she felt her power begin to take shape before her. A massive drill formed above her palm, one that dwarfed the little on Simon had made earlier.

"Of course I can do this! Who are you to be the one to doubt me! I'll show you not to underestimate me!" Nia turned her palm and by extension the drill to face Simon and sent if hurtling at him. This is what he had been waiting for. His emotions were being pushed to edge from the excitement and thrill of the moment. In a second, he had created his own drill equal in size to the one Nia created.

"Come on! You can do better than that, can't you!" Simon threw his drill into a collision path with Nia's and the two collided and smashed each other to pieces. Neither of them were done yet though, each had plenty of power to go.

"Of course I can do more! Who the hell do you think I am?!" Nia yelled. She made another, even larger drill from nothing and sent it at Simon again. He launched his own, even larger than that drill to counter it. This time, Simon's drill didn't break when it destroyed Nia's, but rather it kept going. She, in turn, made an even larger drill that tore through his with ease. They kept trading blows, each attack becoming more powerful than the last. It was the most thrilling experience either of them had ever had. A battle of the human spirit, two conflicting emotions, both fighting to drown out the other. Power and energy coming from nothing, growing exponentially and never letting up, that was the immense power of the spiral. The only limit was the strength of the spirit. Eventually, the drills that were being produced started becoming almost too big for the large hangar to contain. Each putting all of their remaining power into one last attack, two massive drills collided in the space between them. They tried to push the other one back, sparks flying from the contact point. In a flash of light, the two drills obliterated each other and everything returned to normal.

Simon was hunched over, trying to catch his breath. Using so much spiral energy at once was taking a toll on his body.

"That was incredible display of power… I didn't expect her to be able to rival my power, but I guess experience isn't a factor in a battle of spirit… Still, that was exhilarating. I knew Nia could do it, just had to give a little push in the right direction."

Feeling regenerated, Simon ran over to Nia who was sitting on the ground, hunched over. She was looking down at something she held in her cupped hands.

"Nia! You okay?!" Simon asked. He hoped he hadn't pushed her too far in the heat of the moment, physically or emotionally. Simon prayed she wasn't mad at him for what he said to her, but knowing Nia, she'd understand. When she didn't respond, he got more worried.

"Nia? Did I hurt you?" No response. Simon ran to her and kneeled by her side. Then he realized what the silence was for. Her gaze was trained on a tiny drill that she held in her hands. Simon recognized it immediately.

"That's my core drill," he whispered in awe. Simon had been able to create another core drill, but that was his power, not Nia's. She shouldn't be able to make one herself, and yet, she had rejected reality and made the impossible possible. He wasn't sure what else he could say here, so he waited for Nia to do something.

"I did it Simon. I used spiral power. Can you believe it? And look what happened! Your core drill just appeared in my hands. Isn't that incredible!" Nia's voice grew gradually more energetic as she went on. "I can't believe I really did it! All I had to do was just harness my spirit like you said, and the rest just came naturally! Thank you Simon, for believing in me!" Nia threw her arms, and by extension the rest of her body, around Simon.

"I didn't really do anything. You should be proud of yourself, Nia." Simon tried to make sure Nia didn't become dependent on him to be able to use her power. She needed to understand that this was her own accomplishment. Plus, there may be times when he won't be there to support her, but he didn't plan on it.

"You believed in me, Simon. That's all I needed from you," she said softly. He was glad he was able to provide her with the same emotional strength that she gave him.

"Well, I guess that settles that. I can definitively say that you don't really need training. The ability to use spiral power comes from instinct, not training. When the time calls for it, you'll be able to pull through. So all that leaves us to do now is try to hone our skills. Not me teaching you, but learning from each other. And maybe you should see if Yoko can teach you some things about acrobatics and flexibility. While those skills come in handy, I'm not the best person for that kind of thing."

"Okay." Nia got off of Simon and stood up to examine her new drill. "This is the physical manifestation of the human spirit. I wonder how far this power extends…"

"I'm not sure we'll ever figure that one out, but for now I think we deserve a break. I've spent up all my energy, so I could really go for something to eat right now. Do you want to try your hand at cooking? If so, now's a good time." Simon hoped she would say yes. More than anything right now, he was excited to see what kind of foods she could make, and how good it'll be.

"Sure! I'd love to try it! Let's go right now!" Nia grabbed Simon's hand and dragged him across the ship all the way to the kitchen. "Hmmm, what are you feeling like Simon?"


	7. Engage the Enemy

_Chapter 7:_

 _Engage the Enemy_

Over the next five days, life aboard the Dai-Gurren was relatively simple. As the inevitable battle of Teppelin neared, the team spent their time relaxing and enjoying the company. Simon and Nia would continue to do more training in order to better master their control over spiral power. It was their strongest weapon, and the more they knew about it, the better. Combining their strengths, they had managed to increase the power input into Gurren Lagann by three times what just Simon could do. Every new piece of information, they would give to Leeron who continued to speculate on the nature of spiral power and how it affects the world. With all their new power and knowledge, Team Dai-Gurren was itching to see how they would stack up against the enemy now.

"Simon, we have an incoming transmission. Come to the control room immediately," Leeron's voice sounded across the entire ship.

Simon, who was walking around the deck at that time, changed courses and headed for the control room.

" _A transmission? We rarely get those. Sometimes I forget the function even exists… Wonder who its from? I won't expect it to be friendly. We're getting pretty close to Teppelin, it's only a matter of days. No doubt the enemy will try and pull something on us soon. I better hurry up and get there, it's a good time to get into a smaller scale fight while we still need time to use our new skills in battle."_

Simon reached the control room in just a minute where he found an unusually large crowd hanging around. Among the spotted Nia, who saw him as well and gave him a smile. Simon returned the gesture as he approached Leeron.

"Ahh, glad you made it. Let's see what our lovely friends have sent us this time." Leeron played the transmission and one of the screens in the room flashed to life with a video feed.

" _No way…"_ Simon stared at the screen where the image of a large brown man stared back at him from atop an elaborate throne. " _Is that the Spiral King?"_ The guy was huge, absolutely massive. His muscles were equally as massive.

"Rebel humans, hear my words," his voice boomed. "You have been enough of a nuisance as I can tolerate, so I want to meet to discuss your surrender." His face was smug and completely fearless, it was clear he wasn't the slightest bit scared of them, rather, just annoyed.

"Our surrender? Why the hell would we do that?" Kittan yelled.

"Quiet!" Simon silenced him, these words were too important to be drowned out by his ragings right now.

"I will send you the coordinates of our meeting place, and I expect you there by noon tomorrow. If you fail to attend, we have located several human villages and will not hesitate to destroy them in the name of the revolution. And to you, Nia, I commend you on managing to escape your death, however, that does not change the fact that you are still nothing more than my plaything. You won't stand in my way if you know what's good for you." And then he was gone. Simon looked over to Nia, who had an unreadable look on her face. Not quite sadness, and not quite anger.

"Simon, this seems like a trap to me," Leeron said. "What do you suggest we do?"

"Dammit, I know it's a trap, that much is obvious! But we have no choice but to confront them. They hold the fates of innocent lives in their hands, and I'm not going to let them fall in the name of the revolution." Simon dictated.

"What if they're bluffing? They have complete control over this situation, so it's likely they _will_ get what they want. I'd advise strongly against meeting them Simon, this may be a battle we can't win," Leeron reasoned.

"What if they aren't bluffing? I can't take that chance. Head for the coordinates they provided us, we engage in battle tomorrow at noon. Be ready everyone."

Simon left the room wit that. There was nothing else that needed to be said. They had to fight, and that was all there was to it. Simon headed for the training hangar, he had to make sure he was ready. As he turned the corner that led to the the dining area, Nia fell in beside him. She gave him a look of concern.

"Simon, are you sure this is the right course of action? This plan seems very dangerous," she asked.

"It has to be, this is our only option. They're using innocent people as a bargaining chip, and as much as I don't like it, we have to respect their lives above ours. They can't resist the attack, we can, so it's our responsibility to try and make it out of this situation with the least amount of casualties. Even if it's the hardest path. I'm not expecting them to actually try to negotiate our surrender. They probably just want to kill us off and crush the revolution all together, so we'll show them that it won't be that easy."

"You're right. We've been given no choice but to engage them. Are you scared Simon?" That was an odd question.

"Scared? Of course I'm scared. Not just for my life, but for your's and everyone else's too. I'll never not be scared when going into battle, no matter how strong I am I'll never be invincible. To be honest, this is the most scared I've ever been. This is the first big fight I have to do without Kamina's leadership." It took all he had not to tremble at the sight of the Spiral King earlier, he just looked powerful. After seeing who they were up against, any confidence Simon had been building up over the past few days had drained from him. Things were beginning to feel too easy, so it was the world's time to ramp up the difficulty.

"I'm scared too, if that makes you feel any better," Nia said in an effort to ease Simon's nerves. "Having Father address me directly like that and with such cold words, it really puts anguish into your heart. He wants we dead more than ever now that I've joined the revolution..." Nia trailed off.

"I'm sorry you have to live like that Nia. Even as an orphan, I have vague memories of how my parents loved me, but you… Not even being able to know your own mother and having a father who actively tries to kill you. I'm not that strong. I can't live like that. How can you stand to smile and laugh in such a depressing world?" he asked. Simon immediately like he pressed to far. Drawing attention to her loneliness was the _last_ thing he should be doing.

"S-Sorry, that was an insensitive thing to ask," he apologized before she could reply.

"You don't have to apologize Simon, I know your intentions are good. The reason I'm able to be happy…" Nia took a second to choose her words before continuing. "It's because of you Simon, and everyone else here. Even if I've lost everyone who I used to believe loved me, I can move forward knowing that there are other people who can fill that void. Other people who depend on me and who I depend on. I can smile knowing that that smile would make them happy and that they will smile back." The was she said it was innocent and pure, but her words had a much more mature meaning. She turned and gave him a smile, as if to prove her point. Now, feeling obliged to give her the same support, he took her hand and continued to walk on.

Instead of heading for the training hangar however, he led her onto the deck where they he proceeded to take a seat near the bow of the ship.

"What are we doing here?" she asked.

"Battle preparations. There's no need to have to go into an important battle being on edge, so I figured we might as well take some time to relax together." Simon really just wanted to spend some time alone with Nia to ease his nerves about tomorrow, especially if there was a chance one of them were not to make it out alive. He put those kinds of thoughts out of his mind. They were silly anyway, they weren't _meant_ to lose, that's not how the world worked. For now, he was going to take some time and enjoy what he had to himself.

* * *

"Time?"

"Three minutes until noon."

"Everyone, be on your guard. We don't know what to expect here."

Team Dia-Gurren stood side by side in their Gunmen, awaiting the enemy to arrive. Simon had spent some time thinking over it, and decided on an all out offensive position with all fighters on the front lines. Simon had a meeting with Leeron where Leeron showed him a digital rendering of the coordinates they had been sent. It was a barren wasteland with completely flat terrain. The enemy likely chose it to be the least suspicious as possible, not choosing a place with somewhere to hide troops. The battleground was neutral at this point. Unfortunately, clouds covered the sky, so visibility was a little lower than Simon would have liked.

"Time?"

"Two minutes."

"Are you feeling okay Simon?" Nia asked beside him. They were both sitting in Lagann's cockpit, both ready to give it their all. Nobody was to be piloting Gurren this time, it was no longer necessary. Simon and Nia had learned to manage doing it on their own.

"I'm okay. I'm still scared out of my mind, but you're here to support me. We can get through this together."

Nia placed her hand on Simon's and squeezed it, just reminding him that she was there with him. Simon was going to be the one to do all the talking, so he had to make himself at least _seem_ fearless to the enemy. He couldn't show any weakness to them unless he wanted to give them an advantage.

"Time?" Simon's voice cracked that time. His fear was still getting to him.

"Thirty seconds."

"Hey Simon," Kittan called from across the comms " It's not just Nia, we're here to back you up too. So don't be afraid, we'll pull through."

"Right!"

Just then, from the clouds, a sole Gunmen came crashing down into the earth, sending dust flying all around it.

"Here we go everyone." Simon's heart skipped a beat, then another. Out of panicking rage, he slammed his fist into the side of the cockpit.

" _Dammit! Pull yourself together! Now isn't the time to be afraid!"_

Simon opened the cockpit and stood up where he could be clearly seen. He put on a brave face and stared ahead as the dust cleared. It was Guame's Gunmen, the Gember. Then, its cockpit opened as well, revealing Guame who was standing inside. His Gunmen's voice boomed across the field.

"You sure do have a lot of forces for a negotiation. Are you trying to hide something boy? Fear, maybe?" Guame taunted. The mind games were already getting into Simon's head, just as the enemy planned.

"We will not surrender! Not until we have liberated this world and all the people in it!" Simon replied.

"Oh really? I wasn't aware this was an option for you! Either surrender and face quick execution, of stand against us and die painfully! Take a pick boy!" Of course this wasn't a real negotiation, this was just a trap for them if they choose to fight here. There was no choice as Guame had said.

"We will not submit! Not now, not ever! Each of us would sooner die than give up!" Simon declared. Battle was imminent now. He sunk back down into the cockpit and grabbed a hold of the controls. "Let's see if you have the strength to stand up to the human spirit!" he roared, Gurren Lagann coming to life with spiral energy. Nia put her hands on Simon's, as they had practiced, and put what power she had into it as well.

"Glad to hear it! It would have been a waste of time to slaughter two villages full of people and prepare all these hidden forces if we weren't going to use them!" Guame sneered.

"DAMMIT! You lied to us! There was never any good outcome of this from the start! Killing the innocents wasn't part of the deal!" Simon screamed. How could he have not seen _this_ coming? His anger only fueled his spiral power as the gauge continued filling over and over. Nia had tensed up as well.

Suddenly, enemy forces began raining down from the sky, filling up the battlefield and quickly outnumbering them.

"Enemy forces numbering in the hundreds! We're severely outgunned here!" Leeron's voice yelled from the ship. "One big energy reading coming from the sky as well! All forces seem to be coming from there! It looks like a flyi-" Leeron's voice was cut off by a massive explosion behind them.

Simon whipped around to see smoke and flames coming from a damaged Dia-Gurren. Things were getting bad, and fast. Not long after, every member of the team was engaged in a fight against one of the many Gunmen that surrounded them. A group of them surrounded Gurren Lagann, trapping them in a circle of foes.

" _We don't have time for this!"_ Simon thought as he rushed at them, drills having sprouted from Gurren Lagann's hands. He quickly tore one of them apart as another one delivered a punch to his side, knocking him back. He retaliated with his own punch, destroying it, but another one took its place immediately. Other less powerful members were having much more of a struggle against the swarm. This was not shaping up to be a good fight. He continued attacking each enemy that stood in his way, but he was slowly being worn down. Simon spotted Kittan having a particularly rough time, he was being pummeled my many enemies at once and was struggling to fight back.

"Kittan! I'm coming!" Simon rushed towards him only to be intercepted by a brutal punch and sent flying back.

"Where do you think you're going boy?" Guame growled. "You may have got me once, but I know better than to underestimate you this time."

"You bastard!" Simon replied, charging at him with as much power as he could muster up.

This time, he was met with a swooping kick from the air. Another, more sleek Gunmen had stopped him in his tracks. It had two large wings sprouting from its shoulders and thin arms and legs.

"Kekeke! We're not going to make it that easy for you!" A new voice called. It was maniacal, a truly unnerving sound to behold. Simon concluded it must be the last of the Spiral King's Four Divine Generals.

It didn't matter who it was, it only mattered that they were the enemy. Simon erected a drill from Gurren Lagann's hand and tried to use it to spear the new Gunmen from a distance. It easily dodged it with its incredible air speed, retaliating with another kick to the side. The blow sent Simon flying towards Gember, who knocked him to the side effortlessly. Gurren Lagann tumbled along the ground until skidding to a halt.

"Simon?! Are you okay?" Yoko called urgently. This was beginning to be more than Simon could bear, he had to force the situation.

"I'm not… going to give up… yet…" Simon pushed Gurren Lagann off the ground and stood to face the two opposing Gunmen. "Nia. Let's do the thing, okay."

"Simon, now is not the time to be cryptic! What do you mean by that?"

"Hit them with all the power we have! We need to play our trump card, now!"

"I think I know what you mean…" She tightened her grip on the controls and Simon followed suit, each putting every ounce of spiral power they had into this last stand. Minds in sync, they charged forward, first targeting Guame. They delivered a flurry of powerful attacks to the unsuspecting Gunmen, driving him back with each hit.

"Simon! From behind!" Nia shouted.

They whipped around to intercept the flying Gunmen with a drill through the wing, knocking it out of the air. It crashed to the ground and seeing their opening, they returned their focus onto Gember. They attacked him relentlessly until an opening showed itself. Gember had moved its arms away to block Gurren Lagann's punches, exposing its weak underbelly. Simon moved in for a spear to the gut when anticipating that exact attack, Gember caught the arm before it made contact. They had been feinted! Seeing _his_ opening, Guame slammed Gurren Lagann to the ground using his newfound leverage. The flying Gunmen came into aid, having recovered from its fall. The two Gunmen then proceeded to pummel them. With each hit, Simon felt weaker and weaker. This wasn't looking like a situation he was going to make it out of. Eventually, Gember and the flying Gunmen delivered two massive punches to Gurren Lagann's chest, sending them flying once again. Gurren Lagann lost all spiral power at that point and completely shut down, sending both Simon and Nia flying out of the cockpit.

Simon hit the ground with a thud, his body battered and bruised. He went to move his arms, but his body wouldn't respond. He was completely helpless.

" _Damn… I can't go out like this! There is still more I need to do!"_ His body still wouldn't move, no spiral power flowed through him. Guame's Gember seemed even bigger than before as it stode up to his limp body.

"Heh, struggling to survive even to the very end. Pitiful. Even if there is no hope for you!" Not giving Simon anytime for a surprise comeback, Gember morphed into its insectoid form and its eyes stared down at him terrifyingly. "Prepare to die boy!"

Simon's body was even too weak to tremble here. Somehow, though, he still held out hope that somehow someone could save him. They had to.

"Simon! I've got you!" Yoko yelled from somewhere nearby as the delivered a barrage of shots to Gember's body.

"What the hell are those supposed to do?" Guame said, not phased at all by the puny attack. He then sunk his Gunmen's large teeth into Simon's body, impaling him through the stomach.

Everything after that ceased to feel real. Simon heard himself scream in agony, but he didn't feel any pain. Gember removed its teeth from his body and knocked him away like nothing, his blood spraying out everywhere. Nia screamed, Yoko screamed, Kittan yelled, Leeron yelled too, and then Simon wasn't there anymore.

* * *

Nia watched as the scene played out agonizingly slow. Gember chomped down hard into Simon's body and he screamed out in pain. The mecha threw him across the battlefield where he lied limp and bloodied on the ground.

"SIMON!" she screamed in terror. He couldn't be dead. There was no possibility of it. He was meant to liberate this world with his drill and make tomorrow a reality. If he fell here, that future would cease to exist.

Nia watched as the flying Gunmen threw his body into the air and sliced it with its wing. It was brutal, overkill. When Simon landed, Gember stomped on his body with all of its crushing weight driving the attack. She couldn't lay there and just watch him get mutilated, she had to fight back.

Gurren Lagann lay just a few feet away, and Nia mustered up the strength to crawl into the cockpit and take a seat. She thrust her core drill that she kept in her pocket into the spiral gauge and turned it. Seething anger unlike any other fueled the immense amount of spiral power that flowed through Gurren Lagann. She pushed the mecha off the ground and charged at the two Gunmen who were throwing Simon's body around like a ragdoll. They noticed her approach only when it was too late. She delivered a shattering punch to the flying Gunmen, utterly destroying it in one hit. Nia turned her focus to Gember, who her impaled through the arm with a drill. She sprouted many, many more drills from Gurren Lagann's body, unable to control the immense amount of spiral power that she possessed.

"Order this message to all troops! Retreat immediately! We got what we came for! Proceeding to fight now will bring us all death at the hands of this spiral power!" Guame shouted.

From the sky, bombs rained down on the battlefield, covering in with a smokescreen. Nia retracted the drills the had put through Gember in order to take a more defensive position. With no visibility, she didn't know where the enemy might strike next. Bombs continued to rain down for some time as Nia could hear the stomps of many Gunmen rushing by her, probably to retreat. She was powerless here, like she had been when Simon was attacked. It was an awful feeling. She was wracked with grief, anxiety, and fear all at once. A couple minutes passed, butt hey felt like days. Voices cut in and out over the comms, but Nia paid no attention to them.

Once the smokescreen had cleared, she could clearly see the enemy had deserted the battle and was fleeing in a massive airship.

"Let this be a lesson for you foolish apes! Give up while you still have your pitiful lives, or you may end up like those two foolish boys who dared to raise a flag against the Spiral King!" Guame's voice sounded from the airship. It was followed with a period of furious laughter as the ship ascended into the air and retreated. Even though they had drove them away, the day was still lost, by a large margin.

The next few minutes were fuzzy for Nia, her mind was still struggling to wrap itself around Simon's death. Everyone gathered around what was left of Simon's body, which lay mangled and bloodied over the barren terrain. A doctor was summoned to examine the. The doctor confirmed that Simon was truly dead. His heart did not beat, his lungs did not breathe, his mind did not think, Simon ceased to be alive. People screamed, some yelled in anger, some cried. Nia cried too, a lot. More than she had ever thought was possible for a human to cry. Nobody knew what to do. Their leader was gone, this time with nobody to replace him. Some of the team started talking about giving up, their main player was out of the game now.

What to do next was the last thing on Nia's mind though. She returned to the ship in the halfway destroyed Dia-Gurren and ran to her room and locked the door. She grabbed the green gem Simon had given her and held it tightly in her hands as she sank into her bed. It was impossible to measure the length of time she spent in her bed. Tears fell on the sheets until her body could not produce anymore, then she was reduced to shaking and screaming and whatever thoughts came into her mind. This was the feeling of complete and total despair. Everyone who had ever loved or pretended to love Nia had now rejected her or died. She was alone now. Only then did she realize the emotional dependency she placed on Simon. He was kind, compassionate, brave, and yet equally fearful and fragile at the same time. He held her together so well, she didn't even realize that she needed him.

" _Just when I thought things were going well for us, he dies… How could it end up like this? This can't be the way this life was supposed to play out. This must be some cruel trick by fate. Changing the formula, messing with the natural flow of things. I won't accept this! I can't accept this. I don't want to live in a world where I could wake up every day and still feel empty and sad. That's not living, that's suffering! And that's what will become of me without Simon… I just...don't know how I'll be able to get through this alone. I miss you Simon, wherever you are. I still need you to be with me, so don't leave just yet…"_

All the intense emotions and grief had tired Nia out and she fell into a fitful sleep, littered with nightmares of Simon's death replaying in increasingly gruesome ways. Even in sleep, she could not hide from the pain of loss.

* * *

Simon's eyes blinked open as he gazed across a familiar looking expanse. The ground was muddy and gently rolling hills extended outwards as far as his eyes could see. He had been here before, but where. His memory was a little fuzzy at the moment. He felt like he had just woken up from a deep sleep, and his mind was still adjusting to being awake. Looking around, everything seemed very… empty.

" _What am I doing here? I don't remember coming here or what I'm supposed to be doing… Where do I go from here? Is the ship nearby? This is all so weird"_ Simon thought as he wandered aimlessly around. The air was bland, the light that shone had no color, the ground he walked on felt hollow, this was a strange place. In his wonder, Simon walked into something hard, but it wasn't hard at the same time.

" _What the? I could've sworn that wasn't there before."_ Simon studied the metal container he had just come in contact with. It had few distinguishable features, just like everything else that was here. But something did catch his eye, a hole on the front shaped like a cone of sorts… or maybe a drill. Simon found his hand grabbing at his upper shirt, something was off.

" _This place… it isn't real… is it?"_ he thought to himself.

"You would be right in that assumption, boy," a deep voice responded from the heavens, even though he had said nothing out loud.

Simon looked around frantically, searching for the origin of the voice, but found nobody. " _A voice?! How? I don't see anyone, but I can hear a voice speaking to me from all sides."_

"There is no need for confusion. Accept the world you are now a being of and be at peace with it." There it was again, reading his thoughts.

"Who are you, and what am I doing here?" Simon called out. He wasn't sure what kind of answer to expect from this voice. It was the only other living thing here with him, if it was even alive.

"So your soul has still refused to come to terms with it? Your mind struggles on, even if there is nowhere else to go. The spirit is a depressing being."

"What do you mean? Answer me with something I can understand!" Simon yelled. Everything had to always be so cryptic and it was starting to anger him.

"Why not see for yourself?" the voice answered.

Simon blinked, and then he was somewhere even more familiar. There was no sunlight this time, only the light of electricity. A huge, rocky ceiling hung over him and expanded outwards before making a dome shape at ground level. Criss-crossing pathways led up high to the ceiling and connected to houses dug into the side of the walls. People walked around casually and talked with each other.

" _It's… Jiha Village! But I don't belong here anymore… I fight for the revolution, so what am I back here? Why now?"_

"Why am I here?" Simon called loudly. He realized a little too late that he probably looked stupid yelling at nobody, but none of the village members even looked his way. "I don't dig tunnels anymore! Not for Jiha Village at least!" Simon felt like he was having a conversation with a wall. His words only bounced back at him, telling him nothing.

"What do you do, boy?" the voice asked him.

"I fight for the revolution to free humanity! What are you getting at?"

"And how has that worked out recently? What progress have you made?" the voice inquired. Progress? They only thing Team Dia-Gurren made was progress, that was the whole point!

"We met with the enemy generals and got ambushed and. . . . . . . we. . . . . . . I. . . . . . . don't know. I was fighting. . . . . . . . . . . . and then I. . . . . . . . . so that means. . . . . . . . . I…. Am I dead?" Everything came back to him at once. The ambush, then the flying Gunmen came, and then he couldn't fight back, and he was thrown from the Gurren Lagann, and Gember bit into him, and he was here.

"So your soul has caught up with reality now. It rejected the possibility of death so intensely, that the entire concept was being bottled up outside your memory, but that is no longer true." the voice explained. So it was true. He really _was_ dead, but…

"Who are you? How do you know me?" That wasn't the most pressing question now, but Simon figured the voice may not be with him forever. He needed to get information out of it.

"I am nobody. I am not a person, rather, I am a purpose. A function. My purpose is to guide stubborn soul to the path to acceptance, as I did with you boy."

"But… I can't be dead! There's so many more things the world needed from me! For me to leave it… is wrong somehow! I can't explain it, but, it just is!" There was a nagging feeling deep within Simon, this wasn't how it was intended to play out, and he knew that.

"Why? Why do you not deserve death over anyone else? Is it because you are some kind of _chosen one_? Do you really believe that you were destined to free humanity, that you were protected by your power and significance? Such a way of thinking is foolish. You are no more important than any other. Accept your death and exist peacefully, for your own sake."

"No! I won't! The fact that I still think and believe is proof that I am still alive, even if only in spirit!" Simon still held out hope of being able to return to the world of the living. He wasn't finished yet! Not while he could still fight!

"Your hubris and ignorance is baffling to say the least. I leave you the way you are now, this world is yours to roam. Forged from your memories and experiences, feel free to change the setting however you please. Farewell, boy."

"Hey! Wait! Come back!" Simon called. His attempts at bringing the voice back were fruitless, as to be expected. "Dammit, I can't believe this!"

With another blink of an eye he found himself on the deck of the Dia-Gurren at sunset. But this wasn't the Dia-Gurren. It had no soul, no passion, no fight. This was all fabricated as a way to bring Simon comfort, but it only sink him deeper into despair.

"How could this happen?! I can't spend my time wasting away here! Team Dia-Gurren needs me, to fight! I'm the leader, the strongest member, the one who's supposed to save humanity! This isn't right!" Simon yelled. Nobody could hear him, so there was no reason to have to think to himself. "What am I supposed to do? There's nothing here for me! I should be back with the team. Why? HOW?" His emotions were spiraling out of control. His mind raced with the fear of being trapped here, alone, with nothing to do. For eternity. But then another realization hit him. "What about those who I left behind? How can they continue without me? Will they even try anymore? Both me and Kamina were the only driving factors from the start… Will there be any passion to try to continue anymore? And what about Nia? Will she be okay without me? I know she's probably taking this hard, suffering maybe….. DAMMIT! THIS IS AWFUL!" Tears fell from his eyes. His punched and kicked at the fake ship, but nothing happened. He tried throwing himself off the side of the ship, but he didn't die. He was already dead. Instead he just found himself back on the deck. He tried again and again, struggling to find a path out of this hell. Hours turned into days, days into weeks, weeks into months, Simon fought constantly and never gave up. Maybe, if he tried hard enough, he could escape, but he didn't. He knew deep down he never would, but hung on to the feeling anyway. Even if it only made his pain worse.

* * *

"Team Dia-Gurren, meet at the ship's deck immediately. Team Dia-Gurren meet at the ship's deck immediately." Leeron's voice repeated several times, waking Nia up from her already fitful slumber. She had spent most of the night having nightmares, waking up, sobbing until she fell back asleep from exhaustion, and repeating the cycle.

The motivation to get up and go to the deck was not there. Nia would have much rathered to stay in her bed until Simon came back, if he ever did. She knew it was impossible, but she held out hope anyway. Wherever Simon was, Nia knew he was fighting. Fighting to come back from wherever he had ended up after his death.

" _I have to believe in him. He'll come back, I know he will! Simon doesn't give up, so I won't either! I'll fight his fight while he's away, and when he returns, I can show him what I've accomplished."_ Managing to find a strong resolve in such a gloomy time was a difficult trial for Nia, but she managed anyway. That was _her_ strength. A will unlike any other. With that confidence, Nia set out for the deck. Other team members were also sluggishly making there, most of them clearly having lost all hope. That was understandable though, but not something that Nia intended to let continue. They would fight on, and she would make them.

When Nia arrived on the deck, mostly everybody was already there. People gathered in an arc around Leeron, who had temporarily assumed the role of leader. There wasn't much chatter among the usually loud group, only a few soft words were passed along every now and then. Nia spotted Yoko who, by the looks of it, had cried just as much as Nia had. The hard look on her face was saddening as well, clearly Simon's death had affected her deeper than most people. Simon had told Nia the stories of Kamina, and how he had a relationship with Yoko, and how hard she took it when he had died. Now, it must be like rubbing salt on the wound for her.

"Is everyone here?" Leeron asked softly. He didn't need to raise his voice as there was nothing to talk over. When nobody responded he took that as a yes. "Okay, I'll be honest, I'm not sure what to do here everyone. When Kamina died, there was enough fighting spirit and call for vengeance to act as a driving force. That along with Simon refusing to let us give up, even if he himself felt broken. We pushed through that, but now, the two original members of Team Dia-Gurren are gone. Without them, we would never have started this fight, so what do we do now that they are gone?" Leeron asked. It took some time before someone would speak up, but when they did, it was Yoko.

"I say we abandon this fight," she stated. A few shocked murmurs spread around the group. "We have no leader, not fight left in us, no morale. And we don't have Simon, so how do we expect to win now? Even if we wanted to fight on, could we even win? Or struggle on to see more people die? We should just give up now before it gets worse…" A few quiet 'She's right' sounded from the group. What she said was the logical idea for their next move, but they had made it this far _defying_ logic, so why stop now.

"We can't give up now!" Nia countered, taking most people by surprise. She wasn't a usually outspoken one. "If we quit now, everything Kamina and Simon gave their lives for will be in vain!"

"You don't have the right to say that!" Yoko spat back. "You didn't even know Kamina! You weren't here from the beginning! What do you know about Kamina and Simon's motives! You're still the enemy, remember!"

"It's true, I didn't know Kamina, but I knew Simon. Better that _any_ of you do! He wouldn't want us to give up here, not after all the progress we've made! Wherever he is, I know he's fighting to come back to us! So we have to fight too! We need to push forward so when he comes back, we still have a chance!" Yoko's face teared up and she balled her fists.

"How do you know he's coming back, huh! Simon is _**dead**_ if you haven't realized! Kamina never came back, so why should he! This is a losing battle, why can't you see that?! I just want this suffering to end! Pressing on only makes it worse!" Nia could understand that Yoko just didn't want to get hurt anymore, not that she didn't care.

"No! Still, I'll fight! Even if nobody else does! Remember, we're not fighting just for us anymore. We're fighting to free humanity, and it's our responsibility as those who can fight to not give up! What about the two villages of people that were killed before the last battle? We can't let their deaths mean nothing! Of course we still have a chance at victory, we still have what's left of our fighting spirit! I can still pilot Gurren Lagann, we have all the components to victory, we just need to utilize them! It's what Simon would have done, and for that reason, we must fight on!" Nia declared. That speech had succeeded in rallying the troops. Most of them broke out into cheering and yelling and chanting. Their spirits were still intact, and that was all they needed to was sure of it.

"Today, we continue the march for Teppelin! We fight now so that tomorrow, we may rest in the luxury of freedom!" Nia yelled. More cheers erupted as most of the group members headed back for the ship to return to their normal duties. Only Dayakka, Kittan, and Yoko stayed behind, all of them looking at her.

"That was one hell of a rallying cry princess," Kittan complemented, or at least that's what Nia thought he was doing. He had always been a hard one to understand for her… "As much as I grieve for Simon and Kamina, you're right. We gotta press on and hope we make it through."

"He's right," Leeron said. "Losing Simon is a hard blow, but I still believe he can pull through, so we will have to do the same. A lot of that responsibility falls on you now Nia. You're the only one who can pilot Gurren Lagann as well as use spiral power. It was a convenient time for you to learn too… But anyways, you're the closest thing we have to a leader now, so don't fail us." He winked. Nia pretended he didn't. Dayakka gave an approving nod to her and left along with Leeron and Kittan. Only Yoko and Nia stood on the deck now. From what Nia could tell, Yoko was trying her best to avoid eye contact, but Nia knew she had something to say.

"Yoko-" she started.

"I'm sorry. Sorry for what I said to you, that was insensitive. And… thank you for pulling our group back together. I can tell it's hard for you especially to find resolve in this somber situation. I can tell, just by the way you and Simon would look at each other, that you sare for each other in a different way. So losing him must be… horrible for you, but thank you for still believing in us, and in him. Just keep in mind, if he ever manages to find his way back to us, you better make him happy. I know that he loves you, even being so young. Don't give up on that feeling, and I'll do my best to move ahead now as well." Yoko gave Nia a smile and walked off.

"Thank you, Yoko," Nia said. She wiped a tear away that had been forming in her eye. She would fight, for freedom and for Simon. So when he returned, she could tell him how much she loved him too. Until then, the only thing to do was move ahead.


	8. Dreams of the Future

_Chapter 8:_

 _Dreams of the Future_

"We have a projected time of four days until we reach Teppelin, that false negotiation really took us out of the way. The enemy may think we've given in so we may or may not see them until we are almost there. I don't know for sure, so don't count on it. We must be ready for anything."

"Thank you for your assistance Leeron, it is much appreciated. If that's true, we should also be ready for an all out offensive from the enemy. They are running out of chances to stop us from reaching the capital, so one big assault may be their plan. We will have to tread lightly here."

"Good thinking princess. I'll work on expanding the ship's radar to give us more of a warning for that event but even that won't buy us but maybe a few minutes of preparation. Well, a few minutes is all we need I guess… Anyway, I'm sure you must be starving so go and get something to eat, we'll be fine here."

"Thank you, Leeron."

A cool breeze whipped around the deck of the Dai-Gurren. It marched steadily ahead into another patch of barren, dry wasteland. The ship buzzed with activity, people walked around, talked, laughed, shared mindless conversation. But it was exactly that, mindless. No matter how real things seemed to get, nothing could ever truly replicate the complexity of a human mind. So, mindless and soulless words spilled out of the 'members' of 'Team Dai-Gurren'.

Simon had learned something in the immeasurable amount of time he had spent stuck in his 'afterlife'. The more his will to escape faltered, the more realistic this world became. The more Simon gave into his urge to give up, the more appealing this world became. It was peaceful, there was no fighting, no death, no pain, but no joy and no spirit. After struggling uselessly against his death, Simon had given up on fighting it and instead spent some time reflecting on what he could have done to end up like this. The first thing he realized was that the person he was when he died wasn't Simon, it was the vision of Simon that he and the rest of Team Dai-Gurren wanted to see. It came to power after all the success and power he had gained from being leader. This 'Simon' fed on his desire to be a man, but Simon wasn't a man. Simon was a fourteen year old boy. As a result, he lost touch with the world. He had found incredible success with his ability to control spiral power and his 'relationship' with Nia. And he had gotten himself killed, like Kamina. Because, like Kamina, he had lost his sense of self-preservation and his nature of calm tranquillity. It was an odd feeling, to be you but not yourself. Now that it was too late, Simon saw the error of his ways and accepted his decline into death hood. What the voice had told Simon also proved to be correct. He wasn't invincible. There was no hypothetical armor protecting him from death just because he believed himself to be a hero. It was the same thing with Kamina, he wasn't safe either. Fate is indiscriminate. So now, Simon spent days on end staring off into the never ending sunset of his fake world, not depressed, just disappointed in himself. Still, a glimmer of his spirit held out hope that he may be granted a second chance. If that day were to come, Simon knew exactly what he would do different.

* * *

"Ah Nia, hello! Good to see you come and eat with the rest of us at a normal time for once," Kiyal teased with a smile. Nia and Simon _did_ have a knack for always being a little late for meals, but as far as Nia was concerned, it was better that way. Simon loved to eat her cooking since the first time he made it for him. Having an empty kitchen made it easier for Nia to cook for him, so she never minded missing meals with the rest of the group, but things were different now.

"Thank you for the food, Kiyal," she said sincerely as she grabbed a pre prepared tray of food from the service window. Kiyal was objectively the best cook on board, according to the rest of the crew outside of Simon, so she almost always made all of the meals.

"No problem, I'm just happy to do my part."

Nia took a seat a little ways away from the rest of the group, preferring to have some more peace and quiet for her meals. The palace life was still affecting her, even now. As much as she sometimes wished she could forget about all the times she spent there, those memories were still a part of her. Contrary to the sloppy eating style of the rest of Team Dai-Gurren, Nia preferred to have more manners and use a knife and fork as she was taught. Looking around, nobody else even seemed to have been given knives or forks except her, which made a certain amount of sense. Nia continued to eat when an unexpected visitor joined her atop her shoulder. A tiny furry animal had jumped on her right shoulder and made itself comfortable.

"You must be Boota. Simon has talked much of you, but I don't believe we've formally met before. Well met, my good pig mole," she greeted. She had seen the little guy hanging around with Simon every now and then, but he had been strangely absent recently.

"Bui! Buii, buiiiiii!" Boota 'said'. He waved his tiny appendages around frantically in the direction of the exit.

"You want me to leave? Is that it?" she inquired. She knew Boota was no mere pet, he was intelligent and capable of free thought and self expression in many ways. Whatever he wanted, it seemed important.

"Bui!" Boota confirmed, nodding his tiny head.

"Okay, lead the way," Nia said leaving her food and the dining hall behind. Boota led her with a series of grunts and points to the deck of the ship. Nothing looked out of place at first glance, but maybe she was missing something. Boota dismounted her shoulder and hopped over to something that was lying on the ground. Nia followed him and bent over to examine the small, glimmering object.

"This is… Simon's drill? Boota, did you find this?" In her sorrow, she didn't even think to look for Simon's drill. It was an important part of Team Dai-Gurren as well as Simon's most precious possession

"Bui!" Boota responded, looking proud of himself. Now that she had it, there was really nothing she could use it for. Deciding it was best to keep it on her person, she stuffed it into one of her pockets.

"Is that all you wanted to show me? You can feel free to stay with me if you prefer. I know losing Simon hurts you as well…" Taking that as an invitation, Boota returned to his perch on Nia's shoulder. "Okay, I'll look after you until Simon finds his way back."

"Bui, Buii!" Boota responded. Unsurprisingly, he had the same blind confidence in Simon that Nia did.

" _Hmm, I don't really know what to do now… Normally, whatever free time I had I'd spend it with Simon… I really do miss him, even if it hasn't even been a day. There's a void in my heart now that only he can fill. But I've got to be strong! For the sake of humanity!"_

As if on cue, the ship's warning sirens began blaring loudly.

"One massive energy reading coming from above and the north! Hundreds of smaller energy reading coming from within! Object is approaching at a steady rate, expect arrival in one minute! Prepare for an attack everyone!" Leeron warned.

Nia turned around to see a massive battleship floating in the air above them. It was a ways away, but it looked to be moving quickly.

" _Is this the same battleship that attacked us from above yesterday? It was too cloudy to see then, but we've got a clear view now."_ Nia thought. Concealing the battleship was probably all part of the enemy's plan last time. It was a smart tactic, but they had a fighting chance this time.

She raced to the hangar and climbed into Gurren Lagann. Nerves started to consume her, Simon wasn't here to help this time. Would Gurren Lagann even respond to her core drill? Nia shakily jammed her core drill into the spiral gauge and turned it. The mecha came to life with spiral power, allowing Nia to breathe a sigh of relief.

" _Thank you, Gurren Lagann. I won't let you down!"_

Activating the comm system she prepared to go over procedure once the rest of the team had finished scrambling into their mech's. "All ranged units, focus attacks on any bombs they may try and drop on us! We had a chance to gauge how they fight yesterday, so make sure you show them what we can really do today!" she said. Feeling that plan was sufficient, she ran out to confront the airship head on. It was nearly on top of them now, casting an intimidatingly large shadow over the comparatively small Dai-Gurren. The other mechas fanned out around her and settled into an arc formation with ranged units settling down in the center. Nia spotted Yoko set herself up atop of the dark blue Gunmen as the had done many times before. Her wild red hair flowed in the strong wind as she slid her glasses down onto her face. Confidence, that was the impression Nia got from her. At a second glance, everyone looked like they were itching for a fight. Maybe as a chance to avenge Simon? It all came down to winning this battle here today. If they failed, all momentum and morale would be lost. Losing was not an option today.

"Ahhh, so the worms have dug themselves out from the ground only to be plucked by the awaiting bird. They return to struggle uselessly, day after day. Even when there is no hope for them!" a voice spat from above. The monologue was followed by short bursts of uncontrollable maniacal laughter. Nia recognized them immediately from here time in the palace. Cytomander the Swift, one of her father's Four Divine Generals.

"Save it, freak!" Kittan retorted. "Now that you're without your armadillo freak thing, you won't be able to take us down so easily!"

"Oh really! I happen to remember one important person _you're_ without today! That puny boy who called himself the leader of your ragtag group! Where is he now? Oh right! Rotting away under the ground, like he should! And yet, you still struggle on! I don't get that! So I'll bring you down once and for all, for the illustrious Spiral King!" Nia's blood began to boil with that taunt. Everyone else also tensed up. The time was ripe for vengeance.

Small Gunmen began pouring out of the airship, creating a full sized fleet in a matter of seconds. Bombs dotted the sky as Team Dai-Gurren prepared themselves for the first wave.

"Shoot them down everyone!" Leeron ordered. A flurry of bullets met the bombs high in the sky, taking them out as well as detonating any nearby ones. Still, the there were way too many to be taken out that easily. Approximately one quarter of still managed to hit the ship. The team braced themselves for the explosions that followed shortly after.

"Main cannons 4-3 and 2-1 destroyed as well as minor structural damage to main structure," Leeron reported. Gurren Lagann didn't have many options for ranged attacks, so Nia was forced to watch as everyone else fought the blanket of bombs that continued to rain down on them. Ground unit Gunmen also began to rain down from the sky and start attacking from below. Kittan yelled something about finally being able to do some work and led his own squadron to intercept them. With their forces split up, they were on the defensive with no way to attack the enemy directly. At this rate, they would be slowly whittled down at until they were wiped out completely. Their only option to fight something so high up was for Nia to pull some kind of crazy plan out of nowhere to get her aboard the enemy ship so she could try and destroy it. She looked around, searching for someway to get up there. Her eyes came across the Dai-Gurren's massive arms. That was it!

"Leeron, throw me up there! We need to find some way to attack them directly; we're not making any progress like this," she explained.

"Are you sure about this? Can you handle this battle all by yourself?" Leeron inquired.

"Of course! I have to!"

"Alright, I'll throw you up there. You'd better have a plan though, I'm not sure if I can get you up that high. You need to find your own way to go the rest of the way."

"I'll figure something out." With that, the Dai-Gurren's massive arm grabbed Gurren Lagann and hurled it into the air. For the brief time she had to enjoy it, the feeling was incredible. To soar so far above everything else, it was liberating. Losing upwards motion, Nia took it upon herself to traverse the rest of the way. She had reached a thick layer of bird shaped enemy Gunmen with the main airship a ways above that. The flying Gunmen were equipped only with bombs, making it difficult for them to be able to attack Gurren Lagann. Seeing opportunity, Nia drove a long spear-like drill through one of the Gunmen, using it as a tether. She continued to make her way up, moving from Gunmen to Gunmen until she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. A sharp metal object cut through the air and severed the link between Gurren Lagann and the flying Gunmen. Nia began falling out of the sky before a set of drills erupted from Gurren Lagann's back and pulled one of the enemy Gunmen in. With some unknown power, the Gunmen reshaped itself and became a set of wings for Nia to use. It was a heat of the battle kind of thing, she didn't have to think to do it, she just did. Gaining control over flight, Nia turned to see where the previous attack had came from. It wasn't the Gunmen she had fought yesterday, rather, this one looked more suited for ground combat. There was a large face on its body and a U-shaped blade sticking out of its head.

Not giving much more time for observation, it charged at her at a surprisingly high rate of speed. They drew the blade from their head and tried to catch Nia with a horizontal slice, but only clipped her arm when she darted out of the way. It continued its assault with a string of powerful attacks. Between all of the kicks, punches, and slices, Nia had to quickly get a handle on air combat and how to control it. She quickly learned that the key to victory was utilising the fully three dimensional battlefield as a means to gain more momentum and power out of each attack. Up until now, Nia had only been blocking the enemy's attacks waiting for them to slip up and give her an opening. They feigned a slice to the gut, but went and punched Gurren Lagann's head when Nia went to defend the wrong place. The blow sent her flying backwards, putting some distance between them.

"Hmph, you fight differently than both of those male apes who piloted that before you. Calculated and strategic, I commend you for that. I ask, what is your name?" a voice called from the enemy Gunmen. It was unusual to stop a heated battle just to chat, but Nia saw it as a way to catch her breath.

"Nia," she responded coldly.

"How interesting?! The Spiral King's daughter takes the role as leader of the resistance? I guess that ragtag group you call a 'team' is running out of suitable members. One naked ape dies, only to be replaced by another. I pity your ignorance, princess, but that will not stop me for finishing you and your uprising off once and for all! Viral of the Human Eradication Forces will be the one to quash you!" With that, Viral charged again with his blade gleaming in the sun.

Nia decided to take a more offensive approach, drawing the blade shaped like Kamina's glasses from Gurren's chest to counter it. She was the one driving him back this time, furiously slicing away at the Gunman's armor. The more she thought about, the more it angered her. It really hadn't sunk in that Simon was dead until now. And it was _them_ who had killed him. If he never came back, there was only one party to blame. Blame for the waste of human life as well as the despair Nia would feel as a result. The spiral gauge increased in power exponentially as each of Nia's attacks became less about winning a fight and more about revenge. She drove him a back all the way up to the airship where she slammed a kick into his chest, sending him flying into the ship. Under normal circumstances, that attack wouldn't have launched him nearly as far, but spiral power had increased the strength of Gurren Lagann many times over now.

Leaving no down time, Nia flew in after him at blindingly fast speeds. Viral had crashed into a dimly lit, dome shaped room with a blue sphere in the middle that gave off an eerie blue glow. Surroundings didn't matter to Nia as she found her target pulling himself up off the ground, clearly heavily damaged. She brandished her weapon at him, feeling an odd sensation flow through her being. The intent to kill. A feeling fueled only by blind rage. Team Dai-Gurren had killed Beastmen before, but not one like this. This one had very real emotions and thoughts and motives making him almost human, but not quite. As far as Nia was concerned, it didn't matter what he was. They had taken one of ours, so she would return the favor.

She closed the distance between them in an instant, letting out a primal scream as she tore her blade through the Gunmen. It felt like butter compared to the immense amount of power the Nia had been able to put behind that attack. She felt the satisfaction of tearing the Gunmen into two pieces, effectively destroying it completely. The Beastman she assumed to be Viral was sent flying from the cockpit, a large gash visible across his chest. Nia placed her weapon on his neck and prepared to dive it through him to end his life. She hesitated.

" _What am I doing here? Is… this really what I want to do? This isn't killing out of necessity, this is out of anger… Am I right to do this?"_ she asked herself. The images of the two Gunmen mutilating Simon's already dead body flashed into her mind. " _No. I am not like them. Even if they did kill Simon, I have to hold my own values."_

"What are you doing?" Viral croaked. "Kill me if you're going to do it already. You proved to be stronger than me, much stronger, and yet, you hesitate. Killing me will avenge that boy and save the lives of your team, so why won't you strike me down? Are you that soft, princess?"

"I-I can't do it like this… This isn't killing to save anyone, this is for personal reasons. That isn't right. I know I should, and I have to, but I can't…" Nia was conflicted. There was no logical reason to spare him. She knew how Kamina and Simon had killed Thymilph without hesitation, but they needed to for victory. As much as she tried, she couldn't bring herself to kill Viral. He seemed to have more values and honor than the rest of them, maybe he could even turn out to be on their side in a different situation.

"So you hold your morals above the needs of the group… I can respect you for that, princess. But that doesn't mean I won't still try and kill you, or someone else won't."

"Someone els-" Nia's thoughts were cut off by a massive foot being jammed through the side of Gurren Lagann. It sent Nia flying across the room, placing her down next to the blue glowing ball. Coming to a quick conclusion that the blue sphere must be some kind of levitation technology, she pushed herself up and sliced through it. Flames erupted from the destroyed object, quickly spreading to the rest of the room. She felt a huge shake, and the ship began to tilt sideways.

" _Great! That puts them on a timer! All I have to do now is take out the General and the day is won,"_ she concluded. Luckily, the General was right there, ready to take her on. He piloted the same Gunmen that had helped kill Simon yesterday, so Nia wouldn't feel much remorse in killing him for his lack of respect for human life. The two Gunmen stared each other down as Nia began trying to concentrate her spiral power. The impending monologue would give her ample time to build up enough power to win this easily.

"Ahh, hello princess! Long time no see, huh? With you being thrown away and all, hahahaha!" Cytomander started, exactly as Nia had foresaw. These kinds of things were so predictable at times. Someone attacks, then they monologue, then attack again. It was a classic formula. "I'll do to you exactly what I did to that boy yesterday. I'm going to rip out your throat and put it on a platter and then eat it with minty fresh candles atop a majes- blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah."

Nia tuned him out as she concentrated hard on her spiral energy like Simon had taught her. She closed her eyes and time seemed to slow to a halt. The world began to be perceived in a different way in this state. Nia could sense the latent energy that she held within and was able to push it out smoothly. The spiral gauge filled up steadily until Nia felt the time was right for her to attack. In one swift motion, Gurren Lagann appeared in front of Cytomander and delivered a spinning kick hard into its weak frame. The flames in the room parted to make a path for Cytomander to soar backwards into a wall after being rudely dragged out of his monologue. Nia was tempted to pursue him, but decided to finish up destroying the ship first. Gurren Lagann's drills made quick work of the thin walls of the airship, most likely constructed that way to help aerial mobility. Nia drilled along, going room to room until she came upon another one of those blue spheres. She trashed this one as well and, feeling like enough damage had been done, broke a hole in the wall and escaped out of the now flame consumed battleship. She hovered there and watched the it slowly lose altitude while simultaneously turning around and retreating.

"Great work Nia!" Leeron radioed in. "I'm not sure what you did, but that sent them packing! We could use a little help down here finishing up these ground units. Some of our Gunmen have taken enough damage to be forced to retreat, and we could use some help."

"Alright, I'm on my way," Nia responded. She flew back down to the surface, taking out a few stray flying Gunmen on the way. The Dai-Gurren looked to be in pretty rough shape at this point and a small army of Gunmen combating Team Gurren's small, but experienced numbers. They were outmatched at least three to one, but once Gurren Lagann arrived, they made quick work of them.

"I think that about does it," Kittan said as he drove a pink spear through the last enemy Gunmen.

"Good work, everyone!" Leeron complemented from the Dai-Gurren. "We managed to sustain minimal damages with no casualties, I'll see that as a victory!"

Congratulations and cheering erupted over the comm system as they gathered up what enemy Gunman scraps that looked reuseable for repairs. That stuff doesn't just come from nowhere. Once they docked the Gunmen, people began congregating in the mess hall for dinner. The sun had already began to set and after a hard fought battle, people were ready for some time to enjoy themselves.

Nia followed the crowd to the dining hall where they took seats and waited for someone to finish making dinner. Nia sat with the crowd this time, just listening to their ramblings and stories from today's battles. Every now and then, someone would call someone out on them doing something embarrassing, they would get flustered, and everyone would laugh in response. It all felt very alive to Nia, to see such a casual and carefree atmosphere in the midst of a life threatening war. Everyone wore bright smiles and shared spurts of genuine laughter. It made Nia smile too, but she couldn't exactly find the same joy they did. Even if everything went well, she'd still miss Simon. Even if they won the war and freed humanity, none of it would make up for losing him. That sorrow lingered in the back of her mind as she ate dinner with the team.

* * *

Simon felt something. A familiar feeling. It came from his right shoulder, a real feeling. Not like the everything else here. He turned to see if his suspicions were real and, sure enough, the tiny pigmole he had spent his whole life with was perched on his shoulder again.

"Boota? Is it the real you?" Simon asked as he poked at Boota. He felt real enough.

"Bui, buii buii buuiiiii!" Boota replied. There was a shocking amount of vigor behind Boota's grunts, an intent that couldn't be fabricated. Simon wasn't sure how, but Boota had found his way here.

"Boota! What are you doing here? I've missed you so much!" Simon felt some of his feelings start to come back to him as well as a faint sense of hope. Perhaps Boota had some kind of escape plan for him. At this point, Simon was glad to see anything else alive in this place.

Boota dived into his shirt pocket and retrieved another familiar looking object.

"My… core drill? How did that get in there? That shouldn't be able to exist in this world." As much time as Simon had spent trying to use any spiral power in this world, he found it to be impossible. And yet, this real Boota had given him his real core drill, so what was supposed to think now.

He took the core drill into his palm, already enjoying the feeling of spiral power coursing through his veins again. All of the spirit and hope he had came rushing back to him as a green light shone from the ground below them. It quickly consumed Simon and Boota before blinding them with an even more brilliant light.

When Simon managed to open his eyes again, he found himself to be standing in the middle of a rocky plain. Jagged boulders jutted out from the ground, giving character to the rocky soil.

"This is different," Simon said. "Why are we here now?"

"Bui! Buii, buii bui!" Boota exclaimed, pointing in the direction that he wanted Simon to go.

"Alright, if you say so." Simon trekked across the rough terrain, taking time to traverse the more dangerous spots. A little ways ahead, the land would drop out into a large crater.

"Oi oi oi oi oi oii!" A voice shouted from ahead. "What do you think you're doing here with that big ugly mug of yours!" The sound of a blade being drawn followed shortly after. There was only one person that could possibly fit in this situation. The voice, the blade, the bravado, it had to be Bro.

Simon sprinted to the edge of the crater and peered down to see a masculine figure pointing a long blade at a Gunmen. He couldn't contain his excitement as he slid down the steep slope that separated them.

"KAMINA!" Simon called out.

"Huh?" He turned to look at Simon in his surprise. The Gunmen used his lack of concentration against him, sending a punch to the spot where Kamina stood. He narrowly dodged the attack, giving the Gunmen's arm a good slice of the sword to return the favor. "A man only attacks when his opponent is ready!" he said in true Kamina fashion. The Gunmen then found a blade had been driven through its midsection and toppled to the ground, dead.

"KAMINA, IT'S ME, SIMON!" he called out again. Simon kept on running towards him, stumbling a couple times in his haste.

"Ahh, Simon?! What the hell are you doing here?" Kamina asked. Why he didn't sound super surprised, Simon didn't know.

When Simon reached him, Kamina took him into a **manly hug**. The manliness of it almost caused Simon to pass out, Kamina was just so manly.

"Bro! I missed you so much! What are you doing here?" Simon asked. This was not what he expected to find here and it was also not by chance that they happened to run into each other. There was a reason Simon found himself here. The small sliver of hope he had held onto for escape grew exponentially. Maybe Kamina knew of some way to reverse death? The thought sounded insane, and really it was wrong for Simon to even dream of such a thing. And yet, he couldn't shake the thoughts from his mind. There was still something out there for him, and he would indulge himself in that feeling no matter what it took.

"I could ask you the same thing, blood brother. This is my manly land of manliness, where real men come to fight and the manliest of men survive! Even in the realm of death, the mighty leader of Team Gurren fights on!"

"Wow! That's so much cooler than the lame world I came from…"

"Huh? You mean, you're dead, Simon?" Kamina's tone changed completely.

"Yeah… I bought it in a fight on the way to the Spiral King. It was a horrific battle, I'm not even sure if we ended up winning." Simon had always kept in the frame of mind that they ended up winning, but he never knew for sure. Even if they won that battle, would they even continue fighting without him? He wished he knew the answers…

Kamina kept a hard look on his face, his glasses completely concealing his eyes. "I want to hear about it, what happened after I left you that day." This was one of those rare times Kamina would calm down and be completely serious, so it had to be important to him. He took a seat on the ground and Simon did the same,taking some time to choose his words.

"Well, after you died…" Simon spent a good twenty minutes summarizing what had happened after his death. Kamina only would nod every now and then at some of the more complicated parts, other than that, he stayed silent. It was difficult for Simon to tell some of the parts of the story, not really liking to recall the bad memories himself, much less explain them to his Bro.

"Sounds like you've kept yourselves busy… Simon, I'm sorry I couldn't have been there to protect you from that. I never thought that you would ever die. You were just so strong, and that spiral power thing you keep talking about sounded pretty powerful too…"

"Don't be sorry, Bro. It's my fault that I ended up this way, so there's nothing you could have done to stop it…" A moment of silence passed between them.

"So, what now?" Simon asked.

"I don't know. I'm sure that you're not supposed to be here though, this is my afterlife, not yours. But, I can't lose this feeling I have… The feeling that I get before a big battle, how odd…" Simon knew exactly what would come next, just not what form it would come in.

" **VAULT #2836410719 ERROR CODE:2-02; MULTI SPECIMEN CHAMBER DETECTED; PREPARING COUNTERMEASURES;LOADING MEM DATA;SPECIES:HUMAN; HOMEWORLD:EARTH;ENEMY TYPE;ANTI RESISTANCE GUNMEN;GENERATING-10.389,"** a voice boomed from the sky. From what Simon thought he understood from that incomprehensible jumble of words, something was wrong and a system was being put in place to counteract it.

"Ahh, so the big ugly mug in the sky has returned after a long silence!" Kamina said, drawing his weapon. "To fight in the manliest of battles against the original Team Gurren! How poetic!"

The terrain around them morphed into a flat, black expanse. Holes in the ground began to form as severely deformed looking Gunmen crawled out from the depths. More and more sprung up around them as Kamina confidently brandished his sword.

"Finally, a change of pace! You ready, Simon?"

"Yeah, let's do it!" Simon replied. He held on tightly to his core drill as he felt the spiral power start flowing. Whatever had inhibited his ability to use that power before no longer seemed to apply now. These new enemies seemed to be different than the one Kamina was fighting earlier, these ones gave off a more dangerous vibe. Could you be killed if you're already dead? Or were they even dead? They were about to find out.

* * *

The moon rose slowly over the Dai-Gurren as it made its way towards the capital. Nia had returned to her room after dinner and checking in with Leeron on the ship's repair status. She pondered the idea of when the next battle may be as she unlocked the door to her room. She was surprised to find a large piece of fabric lying on her bed.

" _How odd, I didn't leave that there, and my door was locked…"_ Nia switched on the light to reveal the stylish Team Dai-Gurren logo on a white and pink cape sprawled out over her bed. " _Oh! This must be another piece of clothing Old Coco made me!"_ She picked it up to examine it more closely. The craftsmanship on it was amazing! She herself had received a few lessons on sewing and things of that nature back in the palace, but she had never been able to produce such seamless lines as these! It fit perfectly around her shoulders and made her feel more powerful, even if it was just another fabric. She remembered how Simon's cape would flap in the wind when their training sessions would pick up speed as well as the times when they would stand on the deck together and watch the Dia-Gurren march onward.

Nia put those thoughts out of her mind so she could focus on sleeping instead. She needed a good rest in order to be prepared for whatever may happen tomorrow. Mentally and physically.

Quickly changing into her nightclothes, she sunk into the bed for a slightly more restful sleep than the night before's.

* * *

Nia awoke with a jump, dragged out of her nightmare by force. She took a second to catch her breath, a pool of sweat dampening the sheets beneath her. It was unlike her to have such fitful sleep, but since Simon had died, the grief she bottled up inside of her roamed rampant in her subconscious. Feeling tired, but too afraid to go back to sleep, Nia crept out into the hallway. All the lights of the ship were off as they usually were, but she still managed to make her way up the dark hallways and steps to the ship's deck. The moon still shone high in the sky, showing that daytime was still a few hours away.

She crept across the wooden floor to a spot where she could get a better view of the midnight landscape. It was calming, exactly what she needed to help her relax after having such horrible, vivid nightmares of Team Dai-Gurren being wiped out in battle. She was about to head back to bed when she heard the wood creak behind her.

Still a little jumpy, she whirled around in response to the startling noise. A dark figure stood before her, concealed by the darkness of the night. But she knew the outline. Rugged hair, slightly built body, loose clothes.

"No! I'm not going to fall for this! I know this is a dream, it must be! But… everything has been so real. Except him," Nia thought.

"Nia, is that you?" The voice was spot on. Whatever dream she was having, it was trying its damndest to trick her. The figure took a step closer to her, reaching out a hand.

"As if I'd fall victim to my own thoughts!" she yelled at the figure, moving in to punch it hard in the gut. "I know this isn't real, and you're not Simon!" Nia wasn't going to let herself suffer because she was weak, this was just her mind playing a cruel trick on her.

"Heh, maybe I'm not. Maybe this isn't real." The figure morphed into the massive shape of her father. "But I'm still you!" The thing took on her father's voice as well, making what would come next hurt more. "Your weakness and your fears, I'm the manifestation of them. As much as you act like you're a strong person now, I still know how fragile you are on the inside! For all the power you think you've gained, all the mental strength you think you have, all the emotions you suppress, I know you can't keep faking it!"

"If you're me, then why torment me like this?!" Nia retorted.

"Because I'm the real you!" The figure took the shape of Nia herself with that line. "You push me down, keep me hidden, but you can't do that forever. With each minute, you push yourself closer to the breaking point! When are going to give in, huh? When are you going to realize that you can't do this? Simon's dead! You, no, we can't rely on him anymore. And when you finally do snap, all these bad emotions you keep swallowing will go away. You can live normally again. But you're too stubborn to give in! You'll keep going each day, fighting for your life only to watch everyone else enjoy themselves while you sink deeper into despair, alone. And who knows what will happen when you reach rock bottom? Just keep in mind that your doubts and fears will still be there with you when you get there…"

The terrain around them erupted into flames and the ground split into pieces. The Dai-Gurren fell helpless into the pits of hell that lay below them. Nia went up in flames as she fell into the physical representation of despair, but she didn't feel and pain. Only the crushing weight of her suppressed emotions dragging her down.

* * *

Nia awoke with a start, freed from her terrifying nightmare. But wait! That's what she thought last time! She had to be sure! She scrambled over to her dresser and grabbed her core drill, slicing her palm with its sharp tip. A visible cut formed as blood began to spill out of her was painful, but at least Nia knew she wasn't dreaming this time. Blood now staining her sheets, she hastily opened her dresser and grabbed one of her pink skirts and wrapped it around her hand to stop the bleeding. She knew she was being paranoid, and she couldn't stand having such a weak grasp over her emotions. Despair consuming her, she cried again into her pillow as her skirt was getting stained with blood. All of her pain was brought out at once, and all she could do was cry. Cry until her body didn't produce any more tears, then she resorted to empty sobbing. Nia did not receive any more sleep that night.


	9. To the Last Battle

_Chapter 9:_

 _To the Last Battle_

"Finally, a change of pace! You ready, Simon?"

"Yeah, let's do it!" Simon thought it over for a second. "Wait, Kamina! I don't have a weapon! What am I supposed to do?" Being thrown into an unexpected battle so quickly had scrambled Simon's brain a little, almost making him charge in defenseless.

"Not a problem, Simon! In this many world, weapons make themselves, you just have to want to! How else would I have this classic sword here?! This thing can cut through anything, these Freako-Gunmen don't stand a chance!" Of course it worked like that.

"Ahh, I guess I should have figured…" Simon said. Kamina's world, Kamina's rules, that was the only explanation.

"That you should have Simon! Now stop thinking and starting fighting, these knock-offs aren't nearly enough to take us down! Who _needs_ Gurren Lagann?"

Kamina rushed in, fearless in the face of the unknown. Simon was left behind, wondering how he was supposed to make a weapon out of nothing. Some of the Freako-Gunmen closed in on him, not really menacingly through; they looked kind of stupid with a dark color scheme.

" _Well I know it's going to be some kind of drill, so let's hurry up and make one…"_ Simon thought as he focused his spirit like Kamina had wanted him to. The excitement of battle started to sink in as the usual adrenaline rush kicked in. It felt like forever that Simon had spent locked away in his lame death realm and he was ready for something different. Kamina's triumphant shouts reminded him that he had yet to do anything. The Freako-Gunmen were already on top of him now and one pulled back its arm to give Simon a nice, big fist.

" _Instinct!"_ The Freako-Gunman brought its Freako-Fist down on Simon, being blocked at the last second by Simon's weapon that had decided to finally materialize. Like expected, it was a nice and powerful drill which came in the shape of a spear this time, not really a weapon that Simon had wanted. Taking what he could get, he drove his Drill Spear into the Gunmen's arm which had been stuck in the ground for some reason.

"How did that even happen? These things fight like Rossiu but even worse," Simon muttered. He clenched the handle on his weapon a harder causing a shockwave of energy to run up the Freako-Gunmen's arm. A green light resonated from its core before violently exploding into nothingness.

The was awesome, Simon! A weapon to fit your soul!" Kamina yelled from across the battlefield. "Keep going like that and we'll finish up here with time to spare!"

"Kamina, you know we don't have a time limit right! We're already dead, what's time supposed to do to us!" Simon absentmindedly continued to destroy these Freako-Gunmen. Even if they were weak, they had the numbers advantage. When one died, two more would take its place.

"Simon, you fool!" Kamina spat. "You know that real men get a good eight to ten hours of sleep each night! I don't want this to cut into that!"

"But Kamina, you'd stay up late all the time when we were fighting! You're not making any sense here!"

"Don't question me! I know exactly what I'm doing!"

They continued to mutilate the opposition until they had carved a path to each other, fighting back to back against the swarm.

"These things don't really put up much of a fight! I'm a little disappointed too, I was hoping for a challenge!" the older brother said.

"You're right… And we don't get tired in this place either, so running out of energy isn't an issue either. I guess that this world doesn't operate on the same laws ours does, not having to eat or drink anything; even sleep isn't necessary. How fascinating…"

"Stop it with the technical talk Simon! You're starting to sound like that gay guy with the weird green hair! Man, he gives me chills every time I see him…"

"You mean Leeron? He's been a valuable asset to team Dai-Gurren from the start! He deserves more respect than that!"

"I know that! But, he stands for everything I'm against! Manly power, spirit, that's the Team Dai-Gurren way right!"

"Yeah, but we have a lot less manly power now than we did, especially since we have so many women on board now."

"Ah, women! I see you're getting into the right frame of mind now, eh Simon? I remember you talking about that princess girl a lot earlier! What kinds of things did you leave out from your story? Twelve hour make out sessions maybe? I know you've got it in you Simon!"

"Let's focus on the battle for now!" Simon was all too eager to change the subject away from his personal life. This only confirmed Kamina's suspicions though. "We need to find a way to take them all out at once! We could go on like this for ever!"

"Right Simon! Do **the thing** then!" Kamina ordered.

"What's the thing you're talking about this time?"

"Damn! You didn't learn anything from our combining training! Come on Simon! Give them a taste of that spiral power that you have!"

"It doesn't work like that Kamina! Spirits need to be much higher than this for me to be able to make any use of it without Lagann to amplify it!"

"Well get motivated then! We both know what lies beyond this battle! Freedom! There's people waiting for you on the other side Simon! Don't make them wait! Team Dai-Gurren needs you, and it was a selfish move to go and get yourself killed like that! Make it up to them now Simon! Your drill will be the one to break through the barrier of death itself! Let nothing stand in your way!"

Kamina's speeches had a way of getting Simon's heart racing.

" _He's right! I can't sit out and let everyone else do all the work, I've got to go help them as well! Yoko, Kittan, Dayakka, Rossiu, Leeron, Kiyoh, Kiyal, Kinon, Jorgun, Balinbow, Leite, Darry, Gimmy, Nia! Everyone's probably hoping for me to return, and I'll be damned if I'm going to deny their wishes!"_

That proved to be enough motivation to get Simon's spiral power to let loose. A brilliant green light enveloped him and Kamina and the enemy Freako-Gunmen took a step back.

"Yeah that's the spirit Simon! When there's something in your way, tear a hole through it!"

"I'll keep digging, breaking down barriers put up to stop me. I'll keep spiraling upwards until even the heavens fear my power!"

" **SUPER MANLY FINISHING MOVE! GIGA! DRILL! ERUPTION! JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!"** they screamed.

The barren terrain around them shook violently until massive spears, exponentially larger than the Dai-Gurren, tore from the depths. They reached up into the heavens, ripping through the layer of clouds that stood in their way. The Freako-Gunmen were all impaled at once, bodies disagreeing instantly.

"Nice one Simon!"

Simon could only give a tired smile. Even in a world where he shouldn't be able to feel tired, using so much spiral power at once still managed to affect him.

" **ERROR; COUNTERMEASURES FAILED, ERROR; SPIRAL POWER DETECTED: QUANTITY-?; FATAL SYSTEM ERROR RISK; COUNTERMEASURE-EJECTION VAULT #2836410719"**

"Hah, how do you like that Voice? We make quick work of your little cannon fodder! You've got to be able to do worse than that!" Kamina taunted.

"I think we're about to find out what we're really up against here Kamina… It said something about ejection."

"Ejection?! Hah, I heard escape! Get ready Simon, we're leaving this place! Feels like Jiha Village all over again!"

The world around them proceeded to vanish.

* * *

The sun shone brightly over the Dai-Gurren, as it had done many days before. The massive battleship continued to make its way on the straight path toward Teppelin. After an unfulfilling breakfast, Nia made her way to the control room to check up with Leeron on how ship repairs were going and things of the such.

He listed off various numbers and times, but Nia wasn't really into it today. Her dreadful sleep from the night before was still taking its toll on her, mentally and physically. Focusing was difficult when your mind kept showing you images of the brutal death and destruction of yourself and your allies. Today would be an awful day to have a large battle, which is precisely why Nia knew there would be an all out offensive attack against them.

"Nia!" Leeron yelled to grab her attention.

"What?!" she snapped back. It was harsh and completely uncalled for and Nia felt bad instantly.

"You seemed like you weren't paying attention. Is everything okay? You're not acting like your usual self. Somethings bothering you, I can see it in your eyes," Leeron commented, spot on. But Nia wasn't going to tell him she was having an emotional crisis.

"I'm fine. Finish preparations for battle, order all troops to the hangar for deployment. There will be an attack on us soon." That was the first command she had given without using 'please' since she had taken over the role as leader.

"How can you be so sure? We wouldn't want to waste resources on a false alarm. Let's be rational here." Leeron gave it his best effort to avoid Nia's unusually prickly attitude.

"I just know. Make the order. Please."

Giving in, Leeron called all troops to the hangar like she had asked. Having business completed, but not satisfied with the way anything had played out today, Nia headed for the hangar as well. The new cape she wore almost dragging on the ground, but being just barely short enough to glide over the floor perfectly.

When she arrived in the hangar, about half of the team had congregated there already and more filtered in as time would pass. Everyone seemed to be confused as to why they were brought here, with some of them clearly having been dragged out of bed despite it being midday.

Kittan, who looked to be one of those people, found the one person who could explain to him why he had to be woken up so early. "Hey, Nia! What the hell are we all doing here? There's not a single Gunmen in sight?" Everyone else turned to watch her as they awaited a response.

"I'm just making sure everyone is ready as soon as possible. I know they are about to launch an all out attack." Kittan gave her a disbelieving stare.

"How d'you know that?" he asked.

"Because now is a bad time for us to have to go into battle, no doubt they will capitalize on this opportunity." Really Nia only knew because it was the worst time for _her_ , and life had its ways of making things difficult for her. Clearly Kittan wasn't convinced as he just stared at her.

"W-We have a problem here!" a voice said from over the intercom. It was panicked, must be the guy who mans the watchtower. "W-Walls of water are surrounding us! I think we're being attacked!"

Kittan looked dumbfounded. Nia normally wouldn't find satisfaction in a situation like this, but it was the best thing that had happened to her today so she had to enjoy the moment.

"Get ready everyone. Expect to face another one of the generals here." That was the only mission summary she gave them before riding the lift up to Gurren Lagann's head. The wings it had acquired from the last battle were still there luckily. That would give her an advantage in the battle.

Nia put the core drill into the spiral gauge, except a noticeably smaller amount of spiral power was taken in by Gurren Lagann this time.

" _My spirit is weak right now, this won't go over well for me. I have to hope for a tamer battle today, but I've got a bad feeling that this will be the hardest one yet."_

The water swallowed up the terrain around them, rapidly closing in on the Dai-Gurren. There were no options for escape, so they had to sit and take it. When the torrent did collide with the Dai-Gurren, it only dragged it back a few feet, but it was what was beneath the depths that was the true danger. A plume of water erupted from the sea and the sunlight reflected off a large object that was hidden within. A terrifyingly large pair of pincers and teeth hovered above them before crashing down hard on the ship's bow. The water drained away leaving a massive centipede like Gunmen propped up on the deck.

" _It's ADaine's flagship! So she is the next one to stand against us…"_ Nia thought.

It was an incredibly long, quad pincered, many legged, purple abomination. It's four sets of eyes stared the Dai-Gurren down, its teeth sparkling in the sun. The jaw section opened up and out came ADaine herself, piloting her uncomfortably feminine Gunmen, the Sayrune. It stood defiantly with its arms crossed across its, rather _large_ , chest. The two wings sprouting from its back had brightly colored eyes which added to the intimidation factor of the already horrifying Gunmen.

"Ahh, Princess Nia! Exactly who I came here to find! Haha, do you have any idea the depths of my shame girl?! Retreating from you lowlife beings on the account that I wasn't supposed to harm a mere doll like you! Lordgenome was disgusted with me! I'll take this opportunity to end you all here once and for all!" Nia refused to let ADaine's tauntings get to her personally. This was nothing Guame and Cytomander hadn't already said, and they lost as well.

"What makes you so confident that you can win here?" Nia retorted. "Haven't you seen what happened to the other Generals; dead or defeated! You're no different!"

"Oh my?! So the naive little girl grew up into a sassy little brat, huh! I'm not sure which I hate more; ignorance or arrogance! Still, I see right through this little leader act your putting on right now. It's sad really, your big strong leader kicked the bucket and you were forced to grow up into who you think can carry on his legacy! But you already know that! You know you're no leader, much less a fighter! This is not the path fate had planned for a worthless, useless, brainless doll like you! I'm going to have each and every one of you executed here today and broadcast it above the heads of every other pitiful human on this world! This ought to teach them not to raise a finger against the might of the Spiral King!"

"You're right! The Spiral King is powerful, and I'm nothing more than a doll before him, but so are you!" Nia was fuming with anger. She had been on the boiling point since she woke up today, and this wasn't making it any better. "You take his orders and try your hardest to carry them out like a **servant**! You mean no more to him than I do! All you are is a conduit by which his will can be done! You have no freedom or ides of your own, so are you even alive! Would you die if he ordered it? Because he's your _master?_ You're worthless! Below existence! Insignificant!" The words were just falling out of Nia's mouth now. It was horrible. This wasn't being defiant to an enemy, this was cruelty. The same heartless tactics they used on her, she was giving them back. She was no better than them.

"DAMN YOU YOU LITTLE WORM! I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU JUST TO TEACH YOU WHAT YOU'RE REALLY UP AGAINST!"

"What harsh words, even for you ADaine. It seems you've lost your composure a little bit. No problem, I'll show you how a _real_ Divine General fights! I"m going to be the one to place these worms' heads on a stake, hahAHAHAHA!" A familiar sounding, insane voice sounded from above. The thick layer of clouds parted to reveal Cytomander's flagship, the Dai-Gunten, looming above them. Its long, green runways cast a massive shadow over the Dai-Gurren. The bridge was nestled in between them, a small blue command center with a maniacal face on the front.

"TO HELL WITH YOU CYTOMANDER! I CAN DO THIS WITHOUT YOU!"

"HAHAHA? Is that so? It looks from here that you're having some trouble. But that's just a passive observation."

"Pull it together, both of you!" There was now _another_ voice that had joined in on their conversation. It was old and with a hint of scratchiness in it. Guame. "Remember we have a job to do here today…"

Nia whirled around to see the source of the voice. A massive, dome shaped Gunmen was crawling across the ground. A red eyed face with large teeth looked on at them from the upper half of the mobile fortress.

" _So this must be Guame's flagship…"_ Nia thought. "Leeron! What's going on up there? Why didn't you tell us we were being surrounded?"

"Sorry! The water appears to have short circuited some of our ship's detection functions. We're trying our hardest to get them up and running again!" Leeron called back from the control room.

"We've been trapped everyone! First priority is protecting the Dai-Gurren! Its our only form of transportation and shelter! Without it, we can't win," Nia explained.

"What about offense? How are we going to attack them if we're too busy protecting ourselves?" Kittan asked.

"I don't know yet. If you can handle protecting the Dai-Gurren without me, then I'll try and attack them directly…"

"You'd better be careful too then. You're the only one who can pilot _that thing_ now. Without it, we can't win either," Kittan said.

"I know… but we have to do something to fight back! This is just too hard of a situation to handle like this." Nia thought of all the ways they could fail here. There were just so many of the enemy and so little of them. And unlike most other battles, Team Dai-Gurren didn't even have a trump card. Usually, they could rely on Simon to pull through, but that wasn't an option. Then Nia took the responsibility, but she wasn't really feeling it today.

" _Can we even win here?"_

"Listen well, filthy humans!" Guame spoke off, ending the preparation time. "We're going to show the rest of your worthless race the strength and might of the Spiral King here today! You're little uprising has gone on for long enough! Watch as the hopes and dreams of those who defy the spiral king are crushed beneath his might! Keep this day in mind the next time you think of revolting just because you stole a Gunmen! Divine Army, begin the all out attack!"

ADaine made a quick retreat back onto her flagship and reared it massive body back from the Dai-Gurren. Cytomander in his Schuzak hovered just above the Dai-Gurren, the only enemy that Nia would _have_ to beat without anyone else's help. Luckily, the wings she had acquired yesterday were still attached to the back of Gurren Lagann. Guame stood atop his flagship in the Gember and awaited for someone to make the first move.

Taking her pick of who to fight, Nia decided that to eliminate all aerial forces first would be a good tactic for her. She had done it yesterday, so she can do it again today. But that raised a question. The flying Dai-Gunten had been almost completely destroyed in the last battle, so how could it be back in perfect condition now? Nothing and nobody could possibly be that efficient.

Shaking the distractions out of her head, Nia flew up to meet Cytomander, trying to grab his spindly leg and throw him down. But he was too quick. He darted around behind her and delivered a swift kick to Gurren Lagann's back. The blow wasn't strong enough to do anything but push Nia back towards the ground a little. The Schuzak was clearly built to be an aerial mobility Gunmen without much power. But that meant there had to be a second form. A transformation. Every one of the Divine Generals mechas had a second form which could cover the weaknesses of the normal form. So when would Cytomander use it?

Below them, ADaine with her Dai-Gunkai chomped down on the Dai-Gurren's bow with its massive jaws. It continued to swallow up the deck until it extended its pincers to grab a hold of the bridge. They were met with the Dai-Gurren's own tiny arms as they attempted to push the larger mecha back. After a little push-pull act, the Dai-Gunkai clamped the ship with another set of pincers that came from the jaw. Its massive tail reared up into the sky while the jaw section pulled the Dai-Gurren into the ground. Propping itself up on its tail, the Dai-Gunkai used its jaw and arms to whip the Dai-Gurren into the air before letting go at the crest of the arc.

The Dai-Gurren was sent flying upward toward there Nia and Cytomander were still trading blows. They both darted away from each other to give the massive ship room to fly up. Nia watched in horror as the Dai-Gurren was intercepted by Cytomander's flagship which extended long, skinny legs from under the bridge. They kicked at the Dai-Gurren to slow its momentum to a stop before using both legs to kick it down back towards the ground. It helplessly flailed around in the air before colliding with Guame's spinning Dai-Gundo. This threw the Dai-Gurren away without any effort at all.

Nia saw what was coming next. Standing in the way of the Dai-Gurren's fall was a similar looking Gunmen. It had the exact same long deck and large bridge as their own Dai-Gurren except four arms sprouted out from the bridge. The enemy Dai-Gurren also had a U-shaped blade sticking out from the top of its bridge; Nia knew she had seen something like it before.

The Dai-Gurren crashed into the spear like bridge of the enemy's Dai-Gurren, impaling it through the middle of the bridge. Nia was a little relieved to see that they hadn't struck a more important part of the ship, but it was still possible that someone was stuck there for some reason and had just been brutally and unexpectedly killed.

"What do you think, naked apes?" Nia knew that voice too. It was Viral wko she had spared in the battle yesterday! And now he was back just to slaughter more of her friends. "This is my new power! Dai-GUNZAN-DU!"

The new Dai-Gunzan-Du pulled its four arms back before shoving the Dai-Gurren back to where Guame's Dai-Gundo had been spinning. The Dai-Gundo moved out of the way at the last moment leaving the Dai-Gurren to land on the weak terrain that had been cracked by the Dai-Gundo. When the Dai-Gurren landed, it fell through the ground, trapping it in the middle of four massive battleships.

"No! This is hopeless!" Nia shouted, not able to keep it together anymore. "I should have killed Viral when I had the chance. Now, we're paying dearly for it…"

"Launching Gunmen units!" the Dai-Gunzan-Du called. Its four arms were efficient at throwing Gunmen onto the unmoving Dai-Gurren. The forces on the ship tried desperately to keep as many of them off the ship as they could, but couldn't handle the sheer numbers. Flying units crashed into the Dai-Gurren as well, causing major damages and splitting up the team's focus even more. Now half of them had to knock of enemy Gunmen while the other half had to block Flying units from destroying the ship. The Dai-Gurren was also under attack from the army of units that had clumped around the Dai-Gundo. They were mostly turrets who shot round after round of bullets onto the ship, but none the less kept Team Dai-Gurren's forces boxed in.

"Hahaha, can you see it now Nia?" Cytomander asked. "This is the fate of these puny humans! They don't stand a chance against the Spiral King! And you! You will meet your end here in the sky, on the grand stage that I will provide!"

Multicolored lights flickered on around them as the stage was set for the final blow against the human revolution. This was a big move on the enemy's part.

" _If I lose here, the revolution will be over… I cannot fail. Cytomander isn't that strong anyway; I know I'm capable of winning this easily, but can I? The pressure is too much to bear…"_ Nia looked down to see everyone else on the ship fighting for their lives as well as each others. They were as big of a part of the revolution as she was, giving up would be disrespectful to them. " _I've go to move forward here. Killing Cytomander will allow me to shift focus onto another important target, so this is our best chance at victory…"_

Both Gunmen moved at the same time, trading punches in the rainbow light. The Schuzak darted around behind Gurren Lagann and went for a swift kick, but Nia had already seen through this trick. She waited until the last possible moment to turn around and counter the blow. With the momentum in her favor, she shot a drill for the cockpit. Schuzak barely dodged it, instead getting grazed on the leg. The two continued to trade blows like this while the sounds of gunfire and explosions rang out below them.

" _Why can't I just beat him!? I know I can, I know I have the power! So why?!"_ Nia was struggling to keep up with Cytomander as he increased the speed and frequency of his attacks. " _Am I really this weak spirited now?"_ The two mechas traded punches. " _Is it… all because Simon is gone? Or is it because this isn't me?"_ Both fighters traded a cross-counter. " _So this is how he felt when his Bro had died. Trying their hardest to be someone they're not because they think it's for the better."_ Gurren Lagann took a kick to the chest. " _To think that I got mad at him when he tried to be like Bro, only to do the exact same thing with him. What did I learn from him? Nothing?"_ The Schuzak received a punch to the leg. " _What was it he said to me? 'Sadness and self-resentment don't make me progress, they're the cause of regression. To give into them would be disrespectful to everything you and Kamina have taught me. So I'm not going to. I'll move forward and see past mistakes as a chance to improve myself.' That's what he believed in. Not denying who he was and instead embracing it and using those feelings as a driving force."_ Nia slugged the Schuzak hard in the body sending it flying back. " _I have to believe in those words too. I'm not a leader, not with this attitude! I can see that! Not by confidence and bravado. I should instead be true to myself and be be me! Not anyone else but me!"_

"Heh, it looks like you're struggling more than usual, princess! What's wrong? The pressure finally getting to you?! Are you just finding out you won't win here?" Cytomander asked.

"No! That isn't an option for us! We're fighting not just for survival here, but also for the freedom of every other human! Can you say the same? What's your resolve?"

"Resolve? HAH, as if I need a reason to kill worms like you! The Spiral King just tells me where to fight and I fight. And that's how I like it!" He went in for a driving kick but Nia caught the attack in Gurren Lagann's hand.

"You're wrong! That's not fighting, that's mindless slaughter! Everyone should always fight for what they believe in, and nobody else! That's what it means to be a part of Team Dai-Gurren; embracing individuality! It's each of those different types of people here that make their coming together as one all the more powerful! That's why we will win here! We will teach you the strength of the human spirit! Together!"

* * *

Simon and Kamina had just been dropped into a small, dark room. It was so dark, in fact, that the only reason Simon knew the room was small was because there was no echo when Kamina would start yelling at nobody. Simon had just decided on leaning against the wall while he came up with a plan.

"HEY! WHO THE HELL TOOK ME OUT OF MY MANLY PARADISE AND PUT ME INTO THIS LITTLE BOX, HUH!" Kamina screamed. "DAMN YOU, VOICE IN THE SKY! I KNOW YOU DID THIS! COME OUT HERE AND MEET ME LIKE A MAN! YOUR LITTLE GUNMEN KNOCK OFFS AREN'T ENOUGH TO TAKE ME OUT!"

"Kamina, nobody's going to respond you know," Simon reasoned. The yelling was starting to hurt his ears, so he wondered what it was doing to Kamina's throat. "I think it's best to just wait here for something to happen. We're out of the league of enemies who respond to taunting…"

"Hmmm, maybe just this once," he took a second to catch his breath, "you're right."

A strange feeling of excitement flowed through Simon along with heavy anticipation. On one hand, they were clearly not in the same place they were. That was progress, good or bad.

" _I'm getting closer. To what exactly, I'm not sure… But, I can't hold these feelings back any longer… More than ever now, I miss the living world. The war for freedom isn't even what I care about right now. I've put my whole life into that war, and yet, I still can't put it above my number one priority! Nia! I can't stand it any longer! Being separated like this! I know that she's out there fighting to carry on my dreams, like I did with Kamina. I don't want her to go through the pain of having to push on when all you want to do is think about yourself. I miss her pure earnestness. It was the one thing in the world I could count on to be constant. I can't get rid of this burning feeling in my gut anymore. It burns so much it hurts, but it wills me forward! I can feel the strength I have within me because of it. I can't think of anything but finding a way back to Nia anymore. I can't sit here either. My body can't take any more idleness."_

"Kamina! I can't stand being in this room anymore!" Simon stated. "We're going to drill a hole in this wall and carve a path back to reality!"

"I like the way you're thinking Simon!" Kamina said, obviously ready to get back into it. "Come on, let's tear down this prison cell with spirit!"

Kamina ran put his arms against one of the walls and began to push. Simon pushed off the wall and joined him. Kamina's muscles rippled and tensed with effort. His teeth looked like they were grit so hard that they would break. Simon wasn't slouching either, giving it his one hundred percent effort here. It soothed the burning feeling he had to put so much of that latent energy to work. Neither of the two men could say a word, each were too busy trying to tear through something that was clearly not able to be broken by just arms.

" _Damn! I can do this! I'm tired of waiting! Nia's out there somewhere, and I'm going back to her! Not because I should, but because I can! I will! I just… want to see her again! How can I be so attached now? I really only knew her for a week. But that's enough for me to know that I don't want to leave! Nia's the one person unique to_ _ **me**_ _! I'm not going to let that bond go so easily!"_

Simon felt something violently pulsing in his jacket. He took one of his hands off the wall and reached into his pocket to feel a strong heat emanating from a tiny object. The texture and shape was so recognizable to him.

" _My drill! Of course! I'll break a hole through this wall the one way I know how! With the manifestation of my spirit!"_

Simon let out an audible grunt as he plunged the tiny drill into the wall. It penetrated the hard substance with ease. Simon turned the drill like he would when he would start Lagann. Nothing happened for a moment, but the wall did begin to fracture with green light. The cracks continued to spread outward before glowing brightly and the wall crumbled to dust in front of them.

Kamina tried to give a 'good job' to Simon, but the boy had already started sprinting down the dark hallway.

" _I've got to keep moving! My legs won't stop running, my heart won't stop beating, my mind won't stop racing! I need to get out of this place! What do I do though? Where am I supposed to go? Maybe the world will just give me the answers! It has before! I have to trust in that idea and keep moving forward! Nia, I'm coming!"_


	10. Unfinished Battle

Chapter 10: Unfinished Battle

"Hah! SUCH FOOLISHNESS! And from a little toy like you! I'll show you the true extent of power that the Spiral King has bestowed upon me!"

Cytomander had lost his mind completely. That was okay though. Nia wasn't afraid any longer. The power she needed to win here, it was there. She could feel it now.

The Schuzak contorted itself into its second form in a matter of seconds. It evolved into something bulkier, a legless, two armed, two winged, red eyed, blade covered white killing machine. The colorful lights provided a great background for Cytomander's killer move. Spikes sprouted from every inch of its body as it prepared itself to charge Gurren Lagann.

"Demolition Pl-" Cytomander was cut off by Nia's own finishing blow.

The same move Simon had used so many times before, and his Bro before him, the Gurren Lagann special. Nia grabbed the glasses from Gurren's chest. They split into five pieces and Nia brought them down on the Schuzak's body with incredible strength. In a way that defied all logic, they five pieces stuck to the Gunmen and stretched its body out, leaving it completely exposed.

Images of the time Nia had spent with Simon flashed through her mind; the training, eating together, watching the sunset on the deck, laughing and joking, all of it culminating into a singularity. A thought, an idea, a feeling.

"Finishing move!" Nia shouted. The spiral gauge was overflowing with power. "GIGA DRILL BREAK!"

Gurren Lagann's hand transformed into a massive drill. Putting the drill above the head, Nia rocketed forward as a green trail of spiral power trailed behind her. The drill tore through the Schuzak's body with ease and Gurren Lagann left the destroyed mecha behind. Nia stopped the charge and did that thing Simon did where he stopped in midair. She could hear the Schuzak explode behind her followed by the cheers of her teammates.

"I can't believe I managed to pull that off…" Nia was happy to have been able to carry on the legacy of Bro and Simon with the use of that move.

"Good work Nia!" Leeron yelled. "That's exactly what we needed to swing the momentum in our favor!"

"Yeah!" Kittan joined in. "We'll fight harder too! We can't let you have all the glory, am I right?! C'mon everyone, let's give 'em hell!"

"DAMN STRAIGHT!" everyone else yelled.

Nia smiled at the sight of everyone coming together to fight under one cause. This was the same human spirit that had got them this far, and it hadn't failed them yet. Deciding that she was of no use in the air any longer, Nia flew back down to the surface to aid in the combat of the remaining ground forces. The fight was still far from won, two Generals and on glorified Beastman still remained, along with all of the enemy flagships.

Team Dai-Gurren continued to push back the enemy forces off the Dai-Gurren with a reinvigorated spirit.

"Hah, looks like we've got them on the ropes now!" Kittan yelled.

"Don't speak too soon, Kittan," Leeron said, "Something's wrong. They're not attacking anymore! Be careful everyone, I sense a change in strategy now!"

"He's right!" Nia thought. No more bombs were dropped on the ship, no more Gunmen attacked, all was still for the moment. Except the flagships. The Dai-Gunzo began to spin rapidly in the middle while the Dai-Gunzan-Du and Dai-Gunkai flanked it. The flying fortress Dai-Gunten also descended from above to complete the formation.

"Four Divine Generals Ultimate Configuration!" Viral, Guame, and ADaine yelled.

"Stay strong everyone!" Nia rallied, "We've almost got them now!"

The Dai-Gundo continued to spin faster and faster until brightly colored tornadoes enveloped all four battleships. The sound of clanging metal could be heard from inside the windstorm, but nobody could see through the light.

"COMBINE!"

The light dissipated revealing a massive new battleship. What was the four enemy flagships had contorted into an amalgamation of bodies and limbs. The Dai-Gundo had become the main body with the knife blade of the Dai-Gunzan-Du sticking out the top and the maniacal face of the Dai-Gunten below that. The bridge of the Dai-Gunzan-Du towered over the rest of the mech acting as the main bridge with the entire length of the Dai-Gunkai being split in two and acting as arms for the main bridge portion. The whole thing hovered in the air menacingly with the arms of the Dai-Gunzan-Du crossed.

"This is it everyone! Their final gambit!" Nia stated. "All we have to do from here is destroy that thing! They did us the favor of making themselves one big target!"

"An unknown number of missiles approaching from the enemy ship!" Kinon reported in a panic. "Brace yourselves!"

"EAT THIS!" the Generals yelled from above.

A flurry of missiles, numbers way up in the hundreds, zoomed towards the Dai-Gurren. Many trails of light filled the sky as they rapidly approached. Whoever was controlling the Dai-Gurren put into a defensive stance with feet spread wide and arms protecting the bridge.

"This is really bad everyone!" Leeron called. "Chances of survival are zero at this point! We need a plan!"

The missile were already upon them now, there was no more time for action. Instinctually, Nia raised up the mighty drill coming from Gurren Lagann's right hand to meet the barrage. She didn't feel any fear here, there was nothing to be afraid of now. The spiral power contained within her and Gurren Lagann had reached levels that had not been met before. The enemy here was nothing compared to the power Nia now held, limitless and ever expanding, constantly growing in size; like a spiral.

The area around the Dai-Gurren was consumed with the red flare of explosions and fire, but not a single missile came into contact with the Dai-Gurren. Voices could be faintly heard over the sound of explosions.

"North, south, east, and west! Ground, sea, and air!" they yelled. "No blind spots in the past, pre-"

The sounds faded from Nia's mind as she focused in on the reality that was now upon her.

"The only one left standing in my way is my father now… I need to defeat him next… This power I feel, it's unbelieveable. Pulse-pounding, blood boiling strength. It feels- great… The limits of my spiral power, have I reached them? No. Not even close. But still, will this be enough strength to defeat my father? It has to be! I'm the strongest human on this planet now! I have to believe in that, even if it's false! My convictions, emotions, and experiences. Will those be able to outclass that of my father's? What is the true extent of his power? Will he be a massive pushover against this new power I feel, or am I severely underestimating him? I don't know But I can't let myself come down from this high of power, I know that much. These strong emotions, ever expanding power, I can't let them relax. We need to go straight to Teppelin after this is over. I will engage my father on sight. I can't take a break in between now and then. I'll beat my father at any costs!"

* * *

Two pairs of footsteps sounded out through the long narrow hallways. Red lights flashed and sirens blared around the pair. A large muscular man and a tiny boy made their way through the labyrinth of hallways and doors that they came across. Whenever they met a dead end, they'd blow a hole through the wall and find their own path to their destination. Where was that destination, they didn't know. But they kept on running. Running onwards to the future they desperately wanted to carve for themselves.

"Simon! Look out ahead!"

A flurry of bright lights whizzed toward them, cascading through the darkness and leaving streaks of light in their wake.

"I've got this, Simon!"

The lights dissipated when they came into contact with the long blade of the muscular man. The sword carved out long patterns in the lights, creating long streaks of black surrounded by color.

More and more colors whizzed at them, each and every one being cut through or just ran through by the group. Nothing could stop their reckless charge ahead, not even the attacks of a nearly invincible foe.

Eventually after making their way through wave after wave of bombardment, they reached a larger wall than then they had encountered before.

A sharp object poked a tin hole into it before expanding out to cover the entire wall face and obliterating it instantly.

The man and the boy stumbled on only to be met with a large room filled with many oddly shaped, floating objects. Those things then began to fire onto them, with bigger attacks than they had been fighting before.

"Kamina, you take the ones on the right, I'll get the left!"

"Right, let's see what their main forces can do to beat us Simon!"

The large man hacked and slashed away the enemy's, senses and abilities sharpened by the spiral power of the boy. Their enemies towered over them, and yet they were pushovers. Their figures were hard to describe, they were mostly just a series of rotating rings surrounding a boxy and triangular body. Streaks of light ran up and down their black figures adding to the alien looking nature of their look.

"You must cease this reckless destruction at once!" a voice boomed over the sounds of the battle. "You know not what you're doing here. This facility is the home of many beings; destroying it only causes them pain!"

"Simon! The voice may have a point! Is what we're doing really a smart idea?" the large man asked in between attacks. That way of thinking was wildly uncharacteristic of him.

"We have to press on!" the smaller boy replied. "We're nearly there! We have to believe that!"

"Come on Simon! At least be a little cautious in this! You don't even know that we're achieving anything here by this reckless advancement!"

"Just one last time Kamina! Trust in the power of that unyielding pursuit! Think back to the Beastman War; we only made it as far as we did on the back of blindly running forward!"

"..." "Okay! I trust you Simon! Let's show them what the original Team Gurren can do!"

* * *

The redness that had enveloped Team Dai-Gurren began to fade as they stood strong in the face of the enemy.

"Stand firm, everyone!" Nia yelled. Ash swirled around the Dai-Gurren and the aftermath of the explosion blazed in the background, but they remained unharmed.

"Of course! With all these buddies here, what do we have to be afraid of?" Kittan chimed in. "Kittan the oldest of the Black Siblings!"

"Kiyoh!"

"Kiyal!"

"Zorthy!"

"Kid!"

"Iraak!"

"Makken!"

"Jorgun, Balinbow!"

"Boota and Yoko!"

"And Nia!" Nia finished.

"JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE!" everyone screamed.

This was another one of those rare, heat of the moment kind of things. Logically, nobody would yell their name out for no reason under normal circumstances, but now it was different. The strength of their feelings of unity ignites the fire that softly burns within each and every one of us.

"Finishing move!" Nia started.

"GIGA!" everyone else joined in with her this time.

"DRILL!"

"BREAK!"

Lights of all colors erupted out of the other mechs and swirled around Gurren Lagann as it made its way to the General's battleship.

"TEAM Dai-GURREN SPECIAL!"

Gurren Lagann's drill absorbed the energy around it and expanded to become even bigger than before. It roe through the central wall of the Dai-Gundo and the powers of the other members of Team Dai-Gurren scattered around the room. The walls of the impenetrable fortress were obliterated while Gurren Lagann broke through the top of the Dai-Gundo where Guame was piloting it. He was destroyed amidst the intense energy that had enveloped Gurren Lagann's drill and then quickly left behind. The head of the Dai-Gunkai swallowed Gurren Lagann in an effort to stop it, but promptly got destroyed as the massive drill it consumed made its way through the long and narrow pathway. The wall separating the bridge and the rest of the Dai-Gunkai was torn through easily where ADaine waited on the other side to get destroyed in the same way Guame did. Gurren Lagann ripped through the main bridge of the massive battleship where Viral narrowly avoided having a hole poked through his entire body. Finally fearing through the top, Gurren Lagann left the battleship behind with numerous small explosions going off before one massive one went off and blinding light covered the whole battlefield. Debris rained down on the terrain below and exploded on contact with the ground, and just when the carnage seemed to stop, one final, multicolored explosion boomed in the crater that was the battlefield.

Emerging from the plume of smoke, the Dai-Gurren and Gurren Lagann flew away from the landmark they had just removed from the map. The flying device that had kept the recently destroyed battleship airborne was now being grabbed onto by the Dai-Gurren.

"Leeron! How much time until we reach Teppelin?" Nia inquired.

"One and a half days at this rate!" he replied after taking a second to calculate.

"And how good of a grip do you have on that flying orb?"

"We have it pretty good! Why do you ask?"

"We need to get to Teppelin as soon as possible! I'm going to give the Dai-Gurren a push from behind, make sure everyone is secured on the ship!"

"What's the need for urgency? There's nothing standing in our way anymore!" Leeron reasoned. "We should take the time to plan out our attack and be calculated! This time is valuable."

"That's not an option! We don't know what to expect anyway,so why bother and try to come up with a plan if it could be instantly countered by whatever they might have prepared for us!" Nia countered. "We should strike before they have a chance to set up defensive measures!"

"The girls got a point,"Kittan added. "We should attack now while we have the upper hand! Plus, everyone's spirits are still high, we could use that to our advantage! I don't know much about this spiral power stuff I keep hearing about, but I know it's got something to do with spirit! And we can't waste the momentum we already have!"

"..." Leeron gave it a moment's consideration. "Alright, all pilots return to the main bridge except Gurren Lagann. We don't want anyone to fly off if we get going at a really high rate of speed."

"Thanks Leeron!" Nia said.

"I'll be honest here, I think this is a terrible idea, but you're the leader and you've been right before. And from my studies, whatever extreme levels of spiral power you're feeling now night not come back easily if we take time between now and engaging Lordgenome. We need to use this momentum to our advantage like Kittan said."

"Right." Nia hovered to the side of the Dai-Gurren while she waited for it to pass her before taking up a position behind it. She put Gurren Lagann's arms on the hull of the ship and began to grip the controls tighter. As more and more energy was fed to Gurren Lagann, the more force was put behind the Dai-Gurren. It slowly began to gain speed.

"Looks like it's working Nia! Just make sure not to overexert yourself here, keep some energy in reserve for Lordgenome, you'll need it."

"Okay," Nia complied. "But, I'm not sure that's how it works for me now. If there's a limit to the power I can output, I can't feel myself approaching it. No, not yet."

Nia continued to feed more and more spiral power into Gurren Lagann, the spiral gauge filling up many times over. The speed of travel began to pick up exponentially from there, the adrenaline Nia was feeling feeding into more adrenaline and therefore more spirit and power. It was an infinite cycle, the terrifying power of the human spirit fueling itself as more and more power came from nothing. By now, a massive, cone shaped plume of spiral energy was trailing out behind Gurren Lagann as it continued to shove the Dai-Gurren to its destination. The blade at the bow of the Dai-Gurren began to split the air apart from the high speed and a visible cone of wind formed around the Dai-Gurren.

"This is incredible!" Dayakka exclaimed from the bridge.

"Such is the nature of spiral power," Leeron chimed in. "Indefinitely powerful, but with a limit. There's always a limit to what you can output before collapsing. That's one of the fundamental laws of spiral power according to the books in our library."

"Do you think Nia's anywhere close yet?" Dayakka asked, a tone of concern present in his tone. "She's still just a child, being capable of such feats must take a toll on her."

"I'm not sure about that Dayakka…" Leeron pondered the question for a bit before continuing. "I don't think physical ability factors into spiral power at all. It's all spirit. I can't speak for how Nia feels, I don't think anyone really can, but there's a strong emotion driving her. Strong enough to be able to make all of this possible. Whether it's Simon's death, hatred for her father, or just wanting to protect us, I don't think any of those feelings will reach their limit anytime soon."

"Hmm."

"HEY! LOOK OVER THERE, IT'S A BIG DRILL STICKING OUT OF THE GROUND!" Attenborough yelled, trigger happy and exclamatory as usual.

In the distance, a little dot on the horizon, a dark colored drill shaped structure rose out of the ground. The tip of the drill shape was stuck in the ground with the rest of the structure expanding out and up from that point which posed a very real question; how can that thing no collapse under its own weight?

"You're right, Attenborough!" Leeron replied. "That must be Teppelin, the capital."

"Did you get that Nia?" Leeron asked through the comm system. "Teppelin is on the horizon, we've made incredible time!"

Nia could only manage to reply with a grunt, the effort was straining her body and focus.

"Attention Team-Gurren," Leeron began, "The capital city Teppelin is within sight! Prepare to enter combat when I give the word!"

"Almost there…" Nia thought. Her heart rate spiked as she came to the sudden realization. "Not long now. I'm only minutes away from confronting my father and fighting the final battle for freedom. This feels very sudden. The man who threw me out, killed my friends, caused everyone so much pain, I'm going to fight him. My father… Will he be surprised by me? Rising to be the leader of the revolution against him. Will he be proud of me for attaining such power? No. Those things don't matter. One of us is going to die soon. If him, everyone if free and happy, if me, humanity's hope is crushed utterly. I don't think I can really grasp the weight of this moment. But I can feel it; the excitement and anticipation, dread and hope. It's feeding into my spiral power even more. This is the moment we've been waiting for. I can't fail!"

Emotions once again feeding into power, Gurren Lagann pushed the Dai-Gurren even harder and they went even faster. She could see the ground below whizzing by faster and faster now until it was all a blur to her.

"Rapidly approaching the capital now!" Leeron squealed. "Expect arrival in four minutes!"

"I'm also detecting a massive swarm of enemy Gunmen crowding the capital!" Kinon reported.

"We'll have to use the Dai-Gurren and the ranged units aboard the ship to combat them!" Leeron concluded. "Realistically, we only need Nia to fight here. Once the Spiral King falls, that's victory."

"Hey do you guys see a bunch of cylinders falling from the capital, or is it just me?" Attenborough asked, blinking and rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't crazy.

"You're right!" Dayakka replied. "And look, can you see those massive orange spots on it? It looks like on massi-"

"Hold on!" Kinon interrupted. "Massive energy reading coming from the center of the capital! It's a Gurren Lagann type Gunmen! The signature is identical!"

"No way!" Leeron countered, leaving his seat to take a look for himself. "She's right!"

"Of course I'm right…" Kinon mumbled inaudibly. "Would I lie?"

"You don't think…" Leeron thought for a second, "that Teppelin could be one massive Gunmen?!"

"I think it may just be!" Dayakka confirmed. "Can't you see that massive face?"

"Damn… That makes things potentially very complicated!" Leeron cursed. "Okay, here's the plan! Nia, can you hear me?"

"Yeah," she coughed out.

"Good! We've concluded Teppelin is one massive Gunmen; that's an issue! So here's the plan; you're the only person capable of defeating Lordgenome, so we're only using you in this battle. I trust that you can use the speed you've built up to easily tear through their swarm of Gunmen. All you need to do is find Lordgenome and defeat him! I'll direct the forces aboard the ship to take out the Gunmen swarm so they don't interrupt your fight! This is an incredibly risky strategy, so we've only got one chance at success; failure is not an option!"

"I know. I can do this," Nia assured.

"Good! I believe in you, and so does everyone else here! When I give the word, stop pushing the Dai-Gurren and go on your own to find Lordgenome! Wait until we get closer… Not quite… Soon… Now! Go Nia!"

With that, Nia stopped pushing the Dai-Gurren and moved past it, ditching it pretty quickly. Without a massive battleship holding her back, Gurren Lagann ripped through the air easily. Nia was pushed back against the seat from the speed. This gave her an idea. To better cut through the air, she materialized a large drill on on of Gurren Lagann's hands and put that in front of her. That made air travel much easier and also more convenient for when she clashed with the Gunman swarm.

Leeron had been right about Teppelin being one gargantuan Gunmen, having an easily distinguishable face and two massive arms and legs. Not that it mattered. Nia ripped through the horde of Gunmen that surrounded the capital with ease, large explosions going off around her as Gurren Lagann's drill destroyed anything in its way. Knowing where her father would spend most of his time back when she lived with him, Nia flew up and tore through the cloud barrier to reveal the spire of glass atop the capital. Inside sat the Spiral King, Lordgenome

"I've found him!" Nia said, charging full speed ahead at the glass enclosure. The clouds below her were thrust apart as a massive arm rose to meet her.

"Not going to happen!" Nia yelled. She met the big fist head on in Gurren Lagann as a green barrier stopped her in her tracks. "That's not… ENOUGH TO STOP ME!"

Gurren Lagann broke through the barrier and carved a path through the massive hand that stood in her way, breaking through it cleanly as the sounds of explosions went off in the background. Seconds later, she broke through the glass that surrounded the room where the Spiral King sat waiting for her.

* * *

Simon and Kamina fought vigorously against their much larger opponents. Even without Gurren Lagann, the passion and spirit burning within Simon was enough to give him the power to take on the opposition. Their enemies were unlike anything Simon had ever seen, oddly geometrical shapes that floated above the ground and used the classical death lasers as means of attack. They were easily about eight times Kamina's height and just as wide, providing themselves to be rather large targets. Simon was able to destroy them easily enough, even with only kicks and punches, and Kamina wasn't breaking a sweat either with his sword lending a hand.

About seven of the 'creatures' filled the massive room when Team Gurren had stormed it, only two of them remained. After tearing through them, Kamina and Simon met up in the center of the room.

"Nice job, Simon! We really showed them didn't we!" Kamina bragged. He gave Simon a manly high five for approval..

"Yeah! So where do w-"

"Uhh, Simon!" Kamina interrupted. "You're not looking so good!"

"What do you mean by that?" Simon asked, slightly panicked.

"Well… you're all… sorta… disappearing."

"What!?"

"Look at your leg Simon! What's left of it!"

Simon went to glance down at his leg only to have his vision go black for a second before returning to find a dimly lit room. Monitors were turned on and had some kind of odd looking display on them, but there was something missing here.

"Kamina! KAMINA!" Simon called out, twisting and turning to find his Bro. "HEY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"You will not find your friend here, child. He has been returned to his vault. You on the other hand, are in need of some discipline."

* * *

The sound of glass shattering echoed through the room, many tiny shards of glass rained down on the floor below, Gurren Lagann crashed into the floor. The mech stood up to tower over a man who sat atop a spiral throne. With extremely dark skin, massive muscles, a white toga, and a smug expression, the Spiral King rested his head on his fist and enjoyed the spectacle that would ensue.

Nia opened the cockpit and stood up on top of Gurren Lagann's head, looking down on the man that had caused her so much pain. Her cape draped behind her and the pink Dai-Gurren battle logo emblazoned on her clothes stood as a symbol of what she fought for, adding to the coolness factor of the situation as well.

"Ah, Nia," Lordgenome began. His deep voice wasn't complemented by the mocking tone present in his voice. "I didn't expect to see you again. You're looking well." The red, concentric spirals in his eyes stared menacingly up at Nia, who combated his stare with her own glare. Unfortunately, having flower shaped pink pupils didn't aid in the intimidation department.

"Do not mock me father!" Nia retorted. "You are well aware of why I am here, greetings have no place here!"

"Oh, you're a far cry from the girl I threw away. You've got some feistiness and passion in you now. I wonder what made you have such a drastic change in personality?"

"Why do you do this, Father?" Nia asked changing the subject away from her. "Locking humanity away underground, forcing them to suffer! Why?! Do you enjoy this?!"

"Hah, ignorance is bliss I see," Lordgenome replied calmly. "You know nothing of this world, daughter! I am the guarDain of humanity, the protector of the entire race!"

"You're wrong!" Nia spat. "Locking these poor people up and killing them if they escape, that's not protecting us from anything! No matter what, a leader who kills those who break the rulers is no guarDain!"

"Is that really what you think? You're the leader of the revolution, right? Tell me. Why is it that you fight against me?" Lordgenome asked. Nia already knew there was something she wasn't getting here, a key fact.

"Why do I fight?" Nia took a second to choose her words. "I fight for freedom of course! Even after only being on the surface and being a member of Team Dai-Gurren for a few weeks, I've come to understand more about this world than you ever taught me! I know now, these people you keep locked away, they yearn for freedom above ground and peace from oppression! These motives may have been bestowed upon me, but they are mine nonetheless! For freedom, for the human race, for Team Dai-Gurren, for Simon! I fight! I know too well the pain of loss and the despair of losing those who you love, I fight to see that nobody has to feel those ever again!"

"Is that so…?"

A tiny cracked formed on the floor below, alerting Nia's heightened senses. Shortly after, a long slender drill shot up from the floor at her. Nia reacted just in time, somehow swatting away the object that could have easily pierced her chest and killed her right there with only her arm. The spiral power, she could feel it pulsing through her veins. For a second, even Lordgenome looked shocked, but that look quickly faded.

"Incredible… The spiral power flows strongly within you…" Lordgenome remarked. "I'm surprised you're able to wield such amazing power; your body should have transformed instantly in reaction to the exposure. Hmm, where could you have acquired that from?"

"My body… should have… what?" Nia asked. She knew she had heard Lordgenome right, her senses were too sharpened by spiral power to make little mistakes, but what did he mean? Transformed?

"It appears you don't understand your purpose for being," Lordgenome remarked. "What did that fool Guame tell you; I raise children as a pastime? Is that what he said? He knew nothing of my reasons. You weren't born as a doll, and object, no, you were born to serve a purpose. I only felt the need to discard you when you became self aware because emotions only get in the way of that purpose!"

"What do you mean?" Nia asked. The feeling of dread and terror she felt was overpowering every other emotion now.

"You're a decoy! A back-up plan! A limiter! That's your purpose! This spiral power you have attained, it's rewritten your genetic structure, making your purpose unfulfillable now! Everything you were born to do has been corrupted by spiral power, you no longer serve any purpose on this world! Your life; meaningless! I'll kill you now and crush that revolution along with it!" Lordgenome yelled.

Nia watched as his throne sunk into the ground below him. The floor diverged into two pieces, making a pathway for Lordgenome's throne to sink down into. Nia watched in abject horror as her father entered his own, powerful and sharp looking Gunmen.

"I'll teach you not to raise the flag of rebellion against the Spiral King ever again! Using my Lazengann!"

The Lazengann rose from the ground to oppose Gurren Lagann. It was comparable in height with Gurren Lagann, completed with a much more slender, black body, an angular long tail, and two faces, one at the chest and one at the head. It parallel Gurren Lagann in that way.

Seeing this as the first act of aggression, Nia hopped back down into the cockpit and closed it while she waited for her opponent to make the first move.

"That thing is made for agility, I have to use my superior strength to take advantage of his mistakes when I can!" Nia strategized.

Lazengann bent its legs and crouched down before leaping high into the air. It came down fist first, crashing into the ground where Gurren Lagann once stood. Nia had moved out of the way with plenty of time to spare; that attack had been very telegraphed.

"He's got a plan for retaliation! I'll outsmart him here!"

Nia feigned a punch to the recovering Lazengann. As expected, it moved to meet her with an upwards knee strike, but Nia had seen that coming. She dodged to the side and delivered a strong punch to the vulnerable Lazengann. The blow sent it crashing into the glass surrounding the arena, shattering it instantly. The mech stood back up slowly and took a second to recover.

"I can see you didn't make it this far on fighting spirit alone," Lordgenome 'complimented'. "You're cunning and calculated for being able to see through my bait."

"I will not lose here, Father!" Nia pressed. "The fate of the rebellion lies on my shoulders!"

"Still, do not believe yourself to be on the side of righteousness. You know nothing of this worlds true nature."

That proved to be a good conversation killer as the Lazengann once again went on the offensive. This time, it used its speed to close the gap between them quickly and deliver a punch to Gurren Lagann's head. Nia deflected the blow while Lazengann went for a kick to the side. She blocked that with her other arm. Only then did Nia realize she had been outsmarted this time. With no arms to defend with, Gurren Lagann took a punch from Lazengann's other arm and was sent flying back.

Lordgenome pulled even more strategies out from his not existent sleeves, now using Lazengann's ability to rapidly create drills from nothing as means of attacking. Unlike Gurren Lagann's, the Lazengann's drills had range. Two drills rushed in at Gurren Lagann, each being cut apart by Kamina's glasses. Yet again they proved to be a versatile weapon.

Nia looked down at the spiral gauge for a moment to realize that not only had she retained all of the power from the battle against the Generals, but increased that power even more. She felt confident enough to go for the win here.

Lazengann shot more drills her way, only to be sliced apart by the two glasses that soared through the air. The swept the Lazengann up with ease, lifting it up into the sky; exposed. This was her chance!

"GIGA DRILL BREAK!" Nia yelled, cutting through the air between her and the Lazengann. Gurren Lagann's drill hit its mark in the center of Lazengann, except it couldn't break through its body.

"No way! I didn't have enough power? How? How can he be so strong?!"

Rather, the plating over the Lazengann's chest shattered and revealed the large face beneath. It had bit down hard on Gurren Lagann's drill, stopping it in its tracks. The face looked strained for a second before completely chomping through the drill, and Lazengann's arms broke free of the constriction put on them by Kamina's glasses.

With Gurren Lagann vulnerable, and the Lazengann with full mobility, Nia braced herself for the crushing punch she was about to receive. The Lazengann pulled its fist down low then slammed it upwards into Gurren Lagann's chest, sending it sprawling towards the ceiling.

Nia's body was thrown around the cockpit like a ragdoll from the force of the blow, only to be jerked around once more when Gurren Lagann crashed into the ceiling. Along with the glass shards, Gurren Lagann fell back down to the ground where the Lazengann gave it one final twisting punch, rotating its hips to get the most leverage out of the attack as possible. The fist came in contact with Gurren Lagann right before it touched the ground, again jostling Nia around in the cockpit while Gurren Lagann crashed into yet another section of window.

Surprisingly, the window was able to stop Gurren Lagann from flying off of Teppelin completely, instead leaving it cracked and broken lying just before the edge. Nia gave her best effort to try to pick Gurren Lagann back up, but even reaching for the controls caused her intense pain. A loud cracking sound could be heard when Nia forced her arms onto the controls. She screamed out in pain, choking up large amounts of blood to add to what was already pooled up in the cockpit.

"It hurts… so much. The pain is… indescribable… unbearable…" Nia thought. Her teeth were grit to hold back more screams of pain and eyes closed tightly shut to prevent any tears from falling, as much as she wanted to cry now. Nia knew her small body was never going to be good at this kind of thing. This situation was much more brutal and violent than she had ever expected it to be. She was to fight Lordgenome to the death, but she never considered the implications of that fact. Someone was going to get brutalized and mutilated. "I didn't think that...I could ever lose here… But I did… There's no coming back from this deficit…"

The uncomfortable feeling of being soaked in your own blood was not helped by the Lazengann's slow walk over to her. Dying, helpless, pained, Nia had to experience the terror of certain death slowly making its way to her.

"I'll admit you gave me a good fight Nia," Lordgenome began. "But did you really think that you could overpower me?! You severely underestimated my strength by even coming here, much less by engaging me in battle. The enemies I fought before coming here, they'd laugh at your weakness. You have no idea of the hardships I've faced before! You're nothing compared to them!" Lordgenome raged.

Nia was unable to focus on anything other than the intense pain that wracked her body; Lordgenome's words were lost on her consciousness. The Lazengann stopped to look down on the battered Gurren Lagann before picking it up by the head with only one hand. Lazengann lifted it up as high as it could and held it there for a second. Nia prayed for death.

"Please! If you're going to kill me, do it! This pain isn't worth the trouble to live any longer! I just want it to end!" Nia pleaded silently. Tears fell onto her bloody legs, seeping into the deep cuts and making them hurt even worse. How she wasn't already dead from blood loss, she didn't know. "Why can't I just die! I'm at the breaking point, I don't have to take anymore of this! But my body just won't die! Why?! ….. If my body refuses to give in, then I should take this as an opportunity. I can't win here, that's not possible, but maybe I can escape! Yes! I'll try that!"

"Let this be a key event in the human race's history. The fate of those who defy the Spiral King!" Lordgenome yelled.

"Now!" Nia's perception increased one last time and time seemed to slow to a crawl. "Right hand, drill will come from there and pierce me in the chest. I can only do one thing here." The drill crept closer to Nia's chest as she focused all of the pain into one emotion to fuel her spiral power; fear. The spiral gauge went from empty to nearly full in a heartbeat, and Nia gave her last ditch effort to escape death.

All of her power was put into one jolt of energy to the wings, barely managing to jerk Gurren Lagann's body out of Lazengann's grasp. Nia crashed through another section of glass above her and flipped Gurren Lagann around to run did nothing to stop Lazengann's drill however, still moving on course to where Nia's chest should have been, instead piercing Lagann and tearing a hole right beside Nia. She had escaped death by a hair.

"Damn you!" Lordgenome screamed. "Coward!"

Nia literally could care less about whatever her father had to say, her broken mind was focused on getting back to the Dai-Gurren. Of course, these actions did not come without consequences. The pain she had felt before was unbearable, but now that she was exerting herself it made those times seem good. In the haze of her coughing up more blood and screaming and crying in pain, Nia managed to fly back down below the clouds and locate the Dai-Gurren. It was in a heated battle against the Gunmen swarm the opposed it, but Nia couldn't process the details very well. She only knew two things well, she was above the Dai-Gurren and she could just fall the rest of the way there and still land squarely on the deck.

"That sounds like a good plan," Nia thought. She could have sworn she heard Leeron or someone else say something over the comms but maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her. In her best efforts to relieve her pain, and probably the worst thing she would ever do out of desperation, Nia slammed her head into the spiral gauge good and hard, and felt her consciousness slip away instantly. Gurren Lagann's plummet down onto the Dai-Gurren's deck turned out to be a painless ride for Nia.


	11. Grandeur

_Chapter 11:_

 _Grandeur_

 **AN: Realized I had been spelling Dai-Gurren incorrectly. Fixed all instances of that issue as well as other spelling errors, awkward phrasing, incorrect name spellings(mostly Dayakka) and some other things. Thank you for reading. :]**

"You on the other hand, are in need of some discipline."

" _That voice…"_ Simon thought. He was alone with this voice now, Kamina had seemingly been left behind. The room he had been taken to was nearly empty except for the ten or so monitors that illuminated the otherwise black room. As far as Simon could tell, he was alone, the voice was nowhere to be found; and yet it didn't seem to be in his head. Rather it felt like an invisible person was talking to him. His heart pounded; either something really good or something really bad was about to happen.

"What do you want from me? And where did Kamina go?!" Simon interrogated, assuming the voice knew who Kamina was.

"As I said before, your friend is not here. He has been detained and returned to his vault," the voice said. Simon breathed a silent sigh of relief, but that catharsis was cut short. "As for you, I need to speak with you personally."

Simon thought about saying something but ultimately decided against it.

"You're reckless, inconsiderate actions are causing damage and harm to others, therefore you need to be stopped," the voice said flatly. Everything it said was emotionless, it was kind of unnerving.

"What do you mean by that?" Simon prompted. This voice appeared to be only able to speak in cryptic sentences.

"To explain that, you must first understand where you are. We are currently in a pocket of space in the seventh dimension," the voice explained. "This can be described as what your race would call a 'graveyard' for spiral races. Now, spiral power is dictated by spirit, is that how you have come to understand it?"

"Yes. The more powerful your spirit the more spiral power you can control."

"That would not be entirely true. Spiral power is spirit. Spirit is spiral power. Therefore, when a spiral being dies, it body may no longer function, but its spirit remains intact. And what happens to those spirits? They slide down the dimension gradient and get stuck here. This facility is a vault for containing the spirits of spiral beings while they slowly wither and disappear."

"Wither and disappear? What do you mean?" Simon asked.

"Nobody can really destroy the spirit, as long as there are those who still believe in and remember that spirit, it remains intact. Let me put it in a way you can relate to; you were the leader of a revolution on your homeworld, correct?" the voice asked.

"Yes, how did you know that?" Simon asked the obvious question. Clearly the voice had expected it because his response came without even having to think.

"I have a basic knowledge of all lives of spiral beings that are contained here. How else am I supposed to create a personalized dream world for you? the voice asked.

" _Hmm, that makes sense…"_

"Even though you are dead, the revolution fights on. Their fighting spirit is unkillable, just as yours is. This place was created to provide a peaceful 'afterlife' for spiral beings for them to enjoy until they are forgotten completely and their spirit dies off. This is by no means a place constructed out of kindness, but necessity. There was a need for a large containment center for all of the spirits to prevent them from wandering through the dimensions forever."

Most of this stuff was going over Simon's head, but one piece of information stuck out. The revolution still fought on without him!

"You are a danger to that peace. It is rare, but sometimes spiral beings are able to escape their vaults by gaining control of spiral power, where it is supposed to be suppressed here. It is usually fueled by their will for escape and their unwillingness to accept death. You appear to be one of those people and managed to escape out of your vault along with your friend. At that point, it is protocol to purge those spirits who escape to prevent them for damaging the facility; as you did. You gave no thought to your actions and their consequences, and after I was unable to purge you for a second time, I brought you here."

"So… What do you want from me now?" Again with the obvious questions.

"It is clear you will push forward until you find a way of escape, destroying everything in your wake. I cannot allow that. I also know I cannot stop you; I can see that you're a very rare being. Your spiral power is indescribably powerful. Therefore, the only solution to meet both of our wants is to let you return to the world of the living," the voice said. How he could deliver such a meaningful line without any emotion, Simon didn't know.

"R-Really?! You're letting me go back? Is that even possible?" Simon asked frantically. He was so close now, and he had been given a way out, but it couldn't be that simple.

"Of course it's possible. I can send your spirit back to the place it came from. Spiral power can create matter from nothing, so your immense power will easily be able to create an identical body to the one you had before. Actually, the body is made of the spirit, and each spirit has its own 'signature form' as you could call it. There will be not a single difference as you were before; it will be almost like you never died. But do not believe yourself to be special; there have been multiple other spiral beings who also were reincarnated before you. "

"Right. Thank you for understanding!" Simon sputtered, filled with hope and excitement.

"Do not confuse this with generosity, this will not come without other forms of consequences. 'Why do spiral beings have to stay dead?' you may be thinking. If they can just revive themselves, why do people have to die? Death is the universe's form of self-preservation. When spirits come here, they can exist until they are forgotten and die off, as I've said before. If nobody died, spiral power would never decrease and the universe would eventually collapse under that weight. Especially for people with such powerful spiral power as you; your prolonged existence in itself could be a major detriment to the future of this world. Take responsibility of the decision you're about to make. Time in this dimension and time in your homeworld are skewed so do not expect to return at a proportional time to how long you have spent here. Farewell."

"Hey! Wait! How much diffe-" Simon was cut off by his body's sudden disappearance. Everything after that moment, he didn't feel.

* * *

The world was dull for some time. The sounds, visuals, and feelings were dull, only faint whiteness, garbled noises, and faint softness could be perceived. The world gradually shifted into focus, each sense becoming sharper along with it. The faint whites turned into strong rays of white light, the garbled noises became voices, the soft feeling turned into more of something akin to a bed… or maybe soft ground?

One sole voice cut through the rest, a very familiar voice. Strong, yet kind; forceful, yet caring. A voice that provided instant comfort.

".i…N…..ia…..Ni...a…...Nia!" it called.

" _S-... Simon?"_ Nia couldn't open her eyes, but she could hear just fine. And she knew what she heard. " _Can that be...Simon? Of course it would be him… He'd be by my side… Wherever I am…"_

Memory was the next form of perception to come back. " _Simon! It's Simon! He's back!"_

Nia's eyes proved to be hard to move, they just didn't seem to want to open.

"Nia! Nia! Are you awake? Nia!?"

Against their wishes, Nia squeezed her eyes open slowly. White light filtered into her vision. It was bright. Her pupils slowly adjusted and she could make out a figure sitting next to her.

"Nia!" they said. The voice sounded different now, not the strong voice that Simon had, but someone else's.

The world came into focus all at once, including Leeron, who was sitting next to what must have been a medical bed the Nia was lying on. He had a complex look on his face. A mix of relief and regret. She was reminded of the time when Adiane had nearly killed her and was put into a similar situation. " _That must be the nature of war… Were we supposed to expect it to be easy…?"_

Nia made an attempt to push herself up, not considering the state of her body. Sharp pains shot through her entire body, most notably through her right arm. She gasped at the unexpected pain and fell back limply on the bed. A dull pain continued to torment her even when completely still.

"I would tell you to be mindful of moving, but I'm sure you've figured that out by now," Leeron commented. Nia was going to scold him for being so insensitive,but he just kept talking. "You've sustained major injuries to your legs, arms, and head. Your right arm has broken while your other appendages just have fractures."

"What happened to the team?" Nia asked, wanting to skip the unimportant stuff.

"Well, when we detected your return on the radar, we assumed that we had won. I made an effort to contact you, but you didn't respond. Shortly after, Gurren Lagann crashed into the deck. Yoko was the one to find you critically injured and got you taken to intensive care immediately. Seeing our obvious loss, I ordered the retreat and the Dai-Gurren barely managed to escape. Luckily, we had stayed defensive here and not lost anyone or had any other major injuries. We fled reasonably far away from Teppelin knowing that fighting was pointless if we couldn't defeat Lordgenome. About half of a day passed before we were pursued by a fleet of Gunmen. We were severely outmatched and only survived because we received aid from a large group of rebel soldiers who were inspired by our victory at the Four Generals battle. They had stolen their own Gunmen and managed to help us fight back the swarm. Since then we have been in an almost constant state of battle, struggling to keep the Dai-Gurren safe. We can't win without Gurren Lagann."

"How long have I been here then?"

"About two days."

"..."

"I've held off on making a call about what to do from here until you woke up," Leeron explained. You're leader; we either abandon this fight and try to escape Gunmen pursuit. That could be very difficult though. That would also mean giving up on the revolution, at least for now anyways. Nobody but you can kill Lordgenome, trying and failing is a waste of time. That being said, we can also hold this position as well as we can and hope you can work a miracle. But you're far too injured to fight for now, so I'm not sure how long we would have to keep fighting and how many we would sacrifice. What do you suggest?"

" You've left me with an impossible decision, Leeron," Nia said sadly. "If I hadn't insisted on such a risky strategy, maybe we wouldn't be stuck in this situation. I'm not powerful enough to defeat my father, even at my strongest, he was able to easily defeat me. I'm sorry, this isn't a fight I can win."

Leeron couldn't offer any words of comfort, mostly because what Nia said was true. Her risky strategy and failure to defeat her father had put them into a bad spot.

"For now, I'll tell the others to keep fighting. The Gunmen leave at night as they usually do, and it's sundown now. We won't have to keep going for much longer today. That gives you the night to come up with a solution and try to heal," Leeron explained. He got up and left the room after that, not even giving some closing statement or 'get well' or 'good luck'.

" _It feels like Leeron's acting strange. Like he's mad at me,"_ Nia concluded in her mind. A few doctors did various things in the room, completely ignoring Nia. She felt small here, weak and insignificant, crippled, people just seemed to brush her off. Luckily, the doctors eventually left leaving Nia alone with her thoughts. It made her feel a small bit better, but not much. " _What am I supposed to do here? … Why do I find myself having to ask this question so often? What could have been the harm in just making everything simple? What if we just pushed onward and never had to suffer a loss? We would have kept going until ultimately we won with next to no casualties and were able to enjoy peace… I wonder… If there is a world out there like that….. Where would that put me? If Simon was still alive, how could things have happened differently? I'm sure he could have defeated my father. He would probably have had a hard time in the beginning and nearly lose, but manage to pull through at the last moment. That sounds like something Simon would have done… Is it right for me to think this way? I have a whole world of problems that nobody else can solve but me, so why am I wasting my time dreaming about the impossible? I should focus more on the people who depend on me now… But I don't really want to. I have all night to come up with a solution, so I can spare some time to do what I want to. I deserve it! I've given my entire life to what other people have wanted. Whatever 'purpose' of mine my father kept talking about; that's why I was born. And even now I've suffered for trying to win other people's' freedom. These bandages wrapped around head, what scar do they hide beneath them? A permanent reminder of what I've given for this revolution. And for what?! All its given me is pain! I lost the one person in the world who I could really connect with, lost my family, lost my innocence, lost my spirit, and almost lost my life! Why am I still fighting?! Do I even care anymore about who I'm fighting for? All those repressed people, why does it fall to protect them? If they want freedom, they can win it over themselves! Because I have the power doesn't mean I have the responsibility! I'm not the one who caused their pain, my father did! Everyone in Team Dai-Gurren, they've been very nice to me so far, but I don't even know any of them personally! My only tie to them is that they need me to pilot Gurren Lagann. Do I even count as a person to them? Or am I just here to serve a purpose like my father had wanted me to… Who am I really? Can I ever reach beyond being merely a purpose? If I'm not living to fill that purpose, does my living have any value at all?"_

Similar thoughts just kept flowing out of Nia's head. She didn't find any reason not to cry if she wanted to, so she sobbed; but not into a pillow, she still couldn't move. Tears rolled down her face, eventually being soaked up by the bed or the bandages. Nia struggled to find any meaning in her living, all possible answers leading to just being another purpose. The sole window that occupied the medical room showed the slow transition from evening to night. Eventually, Nia fell asleep having tired herself out so easily. The low hum of machines then became the only signs of life in the room along with the gentle rise and fall of Nia's chest.

* * *

Midday light illuminated the surface a bright look to an otherwise empty world. The rays of sunshine reached Simon's eyes, pulling him out of his daze. He took his first conscious breath in, cold and crisp air filling his lungs. It stung a little, but it felt incredible; indescribable to Simon. The ends of his mouth perked up, producing a genuine smile. He felt the uncomfortable feeling of hard ground beneath him with his body sprawled out every which way all over the ground. His smile grew even wider than. He blinked his eyes quickly a few times before opening them completely to take in the world around him. His heart raced as his eyes looked directly at the morning sun. In reaction, Simon put his hand in front of his eyes and squinted them. Gradually, his pupils adjusted to the brightness and became little dots in his brown eyes.

Simon pushed himself up with his arm, finding his body to be surprisingly powerful and energetic; even without eating for… ever?

"Heh, I guess I've never eaten anything in this body before," Simon said to himself, world coming into focus all the while.

Simon pulled the hand away from his face and his eyes took in a familiar sight. Light brown walls boxed him in, a small hole in the floor with a ladder was to his right and a window was sloppily cut out of the wall in front of him. There was nothing else in the room with him other than small particles of dust.

"Vacant," Simon commented. His heart began to pound inside his chest when he realized the true weight of his situation. "I'm back. Alive, I can feel things again, this world is _real._ I'm real; and I'm alive. Somehow, I actually defied death… And I'm back where I started; Jiha Village!"

Simon squeezed and his hands a few times, cracked his knuckles, ran his hands through his hair; everything felt real enough. He instinctively grabbed at his chest and felt his core drill dangling from his neck as it usually did. Clenching it tightly in his hand, Simon pushed himself off the ground and stood to meet the world head on. The core drill pulsated in his hand.

"Good. I'm going to need that power for later. Every last bit of it," Simon told himself. He took a good look out the village square beneath him.

All the usual sights were there, people walking around and talking, one big pathway leading up to the top of the residential complex, and pathways leading to where the diggers would do their thing. Except on major thing was different, the lights that usually illuminated the village were turned off, and yet, it wasn't dark underground. Instead, the area was lit with the natural light that came from above, from the surface! Simon looked up to see a massive hole carved out in the ceiling, but it was too long for Simon to see up to the surface from his angle.

No longer able to keep still, Simon swung down the hole in the floor into another vacant room which he quickly left behind. He went all the way down to the bottom floor and almost took a step out of the room, but he hesitated.

" _What are people going to think of me suddenly being back after ditching them for the surface world?"_ Simon wondered. " _Will they be mad, or will they even recognize me? I'm wearing my Team Dai-Gurren clothes, so maybe they won't recognize me… Should I stay and meet with the village chief… No, I'm beyond this place now. Everything and everyone here are a piece of my past,I don't need to interact with them. I fight for freedom, and that's what I'm going to do. No wasting time."_

Simon stepped out confidently into the village square and headed for the path that led to the upper levels, his cape gently flowing behind him. He held his head high and took strong steps, contrasting with the old times there he would stumble around the village avoiding eye contact. For a second, he thought he saw those three girls that would always taunt him before. Simon chuckled silently.

" _I've come a long way from who I was before I left with Kamina,"_ Simon thought. " _To think, my biggest fears used to be getting bullied by a couple of girls, and now I'm fighting against the most powerful being on the planet in a high stakes war for the freedom of humanity… The people who changed me so much, one left me behind and I left the other one behind. But not for long, I'm coming back! No more wasting time! I'm coming, everyone!"_

Somehow, nobody seemed to notice him by the time he reached the long pathway at the center of the village square, natural light bathing him from above. Simon took one step on the path before a voice brought him to a halt.

"Hey! Who are you?" it asked boisterously.

" _Chief,"_ Simon thought.

"You're not one of my village members, come on, show your face!"

The people in the square had stopped their chatter and looked their way, digging people also poking their heads out from their caves. Simon was careful not to make direct eye contact with any of them as he spun around to look up at the chief. A plump man covered in odd marking up and down his body, as large as he is a jerk. A look of surprise struck his face as he stared into Simon's eyes, with Simon confidently meeting his gaze.

"I thought it was you from the goggles and hair… Simon! What the hell do you think you're doing here? How in the hell did you get back?" the chief asked. Rudely, of course.

"I'm just passing through here," Simon explained carefully, obviously not telling him the full story. "I just wanted… to make sure that me home village is doing alright before returning to the revolution." Simon half lied; some of it was true.

"The revolution?!" the chief sputtered.

" _Damn… I guess he wouldn't know what that is…"_

"You're fighting in the revolution too!?"

"Yeah," Simon replied, shocked that the chief seemed to understand. "How do you know about it?"

"The last battle you fought in against those wired monster looking things was 'broadcasted above the heads of every human' of whatever that means," the chief explained. "We watched this weird looking girl in one of those big machines annihilate a bunch of other machine looking things. I don't really get all the details, but I don't remember seeing you there. Only that girl and a few animal looking things."

" _So what the voice told me was right, the revolution fights on without me. And the weird looking girl must be Nia he's talking about… I guess she naturally rose to the top as leader."_

"I'm sorry, but I don't really have time to explain things now, Simon explained. "I've really got to go."

"So soon," the chief said, sounding oddly caring for some reason. "You're a hero Simon! All of us here are just waiting for you guys to strike the final blow! Isn't there anything we could do as a thanks?"

This was too strange, the chief was never this caring and considerate. He must have seen some kind of way to benefit himself from this. Simon was still going to capitalize on this opportunity regardless of how genuine it was or wasn't.

"Actually, I could use a little help," Simon commented. "I could use one of the drills from here, they've got some practical uses and I'm going to need one if you don't mind."

"Of course," the chief said. "Oi! Bring me one of those big drills, diggers!"

A lanky man scurried up to the chief and handed him a drill before sinking back into the shadows.

"Here you are," the chief said, handing the drill to Simon. He grabbed it in his right hand and rested it on his shoulder.

"Thanks for the help," Simon said sincerely. "I'll be off now."

"Hey.. Wait!" the chief said. "What's going on with your left eye boy?"

"Hmm, what about it?" Simon asked. He felt the area around his left eye with his hand, nothing seemed particularly odd about it.

"Oh. I guess it's nothing. It just looks weird that's all. Come to think, that girl we saw fighting had weird looking eyes too, but not like that."

"Don't worry about it," Simon said, turning around and leaving the conversation abruptly. Everybody watched, but nobody said anything as he climbed up the pathway to the upper levels. Simon didn't mind though, his mind was occupied with thoughts of Nia. Once he reached the highest level, he walked over to a wall and reached out to touch it.

"This is good enough," Simon commented. He took the big drill and plunged it into the wall and wrapped his core drill in his other hand and did the same. His muscles flexed as he began to climb up the wall to the surface. Simon was surprised at his strength, but accepted it as a result of spiral power. That's usually what most odd things ended up being caused by. He grit his teeth from the strain and continued to slowly make his way up the walls face. Once again, he left behind his home, but this time with different motives.

" _Goodbye again, Jeeha village."_

* * *

"Where do we go from here, Nia?" Leeron asked.

The long night had faded away into day and Leeron had made it his first responsibility to ask Nia what her final decision was. She was still lying on the medical bed where Leeron had left her the night before, but now it looked like there were no issues with movement. Nia was able to sit up without feeling anything more that a fleeting bit of pain; yet another quick recovery.

"We have to retreat," Nia decided. "Nothing other than death will come if we keep fighting. Lordgenome has an infinite supply of Gunmen at his disposal; each and every one of his Beastmen's lives mean nothing, worthless to him. On the other hand, we're all only humans. Every one of us is special and losing just one of us is already a massive loss. We can't even wear him down, there's no possible way of victory."

Leeron opened his mouth, hesitated, then closed it. It looked like he took a second to decide something before talking. "I'll go and send the message out to our team; I'm not sure what to expect as a reaction but I'm sure they'll listen to you."

He stood up to leave but Nia stopped him. "I can tell them myself."

Nia slid off the side of the bed to standeven with Leeron. She stumbled a bit from having weak legs, but quickly recovered.

"Are you sure you shouldn't stay here and rest?" Leeron asked. It was the predictable question for the situation. "Doesn't it hurt to stand?"

"I can't feel it," Nia lied. She _could_ feel a faint sense of pain, but it was nothing that couldn't be dealt with easily. The only thing that truly hurt was still her arm, which Nia made a point not to move it, touch anything, or use at all.

"Amazing, even from such crippling wounds as the ones you endured, your body was able to recover so easily. This is probably another instance of spiral power working its magic…" Leeron said.

" _Again, I'd be worthless without spiral power; this is just another example. That's my only use to the world now. I'm just here to do whatever people want me to do with the power that only I have. Does that make me special? No. It makes me useful. I can't stand it. Spiral power, it matters more than I do. But… that doesn't mean I can't control it. I could just stop using it all together, maybe then I can see what it is that I really am… Or will that just make me completely useless?"_

"Nia," Leeron said, pulling Nia away from her thoughts. "Team Dai-Gurren is waiting in the hangar for the word to fight or not. Lordgenome's forces should be arriving soon; we need to act now."

"Right."

Nia led Leeron out of the room and down the flight of stairs that led to the main level. The bulkhead door that led into the hangar was only a few steps away from there and Leeron opened it for them.

The door split into two halves that sank into the wall on each sides. On the other side were all pilots of Team Dai-Gurren, some had a few bandages stuck on their bodies here or there. They had been leaning up against the wall chatting amongst themselves until the doors opened and they now trained their eyes on Nia. She had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Some of the looks she was getting seemed less friendly and more hostile; mostly Kittan who was standing in the shadow of his King Kittan, just staring. Only Yoko looked the least bit relieved to see that Nia was okay, and gave a warm smile. Nia gave a nearly unnoticeable nod of appreciation, but Yoko seemed to have picked up on the gesture.

Nia cleared her throat and thought about how to phrase what she planned on saying, but opted to go with the direct route. "We're retreating. I can't beat Lordgenome, we can't defeat all of Lordgenome's Gunmen before we all die to them, we've lost."

A few shocked looks showed themselves on some of the crowd's faces. Clearly this wasn't the kind of plan they were expecting. Kittan was the first one to speak up, not unlike how he usually was.

"So that's it, huh?" he spat. "We're just going to give up that easily? Have you even tried to come up with a plan or something that might be able to get us to win?"

"No plan will ever work," Nia stated. Not much emotion showed in her voice. At this point, she was just hoping that this conversation would end so she didn't have to deal with the argument that was inevitably coming. "There isn't a single gimmick that could ever be strong enough to be able to kill my father. Even if we manage to miraculously destroy all of his Gunmen, and even that massive Gunmen that he lives on, he'd kill all of us easily. If every one of us went at him at once, we'd still lose."

"That's insane!" Kittan challenged. "I don't care how strong the guy is, all of us together would have to beat him. Plus, we haven't even tried, how do we no we can't win. We can come up with something at least, or are you just that easily defeated."

"Try if you want, you'll all die," Nia deadpanned.

"So what if we do all die?" Kittan yelled. "Retreating back into our tiny holes in the ground is just the same as being dead to me. I'd rather die than have to spend another day without being able to do whatever I damn well want to do!"

A few 'yeah's and 'he's rights' sounded out from the crowd.

"Do as you please then," Nia said. This was taking a very bad turn, and Nia wasn't in the mood to be delicate here. "You go waste your lives if you want to, It's not my place to say you can't."

"So you're saying you're not willing to give your life for freedom, huh? That's how it is!" Kittan accused. That was the exact question Nia feared. "Without you, we definitely can't win against him. If you desert us, that's the same as killing us yourself!"

"No... it's not," Nia said weakly. She knew there was some truth to Kittan's words, and deep down, they disturbed her. They disturbed her because of how little she cared about what they meant. "I'm not going to die for nothing, living in pain is better than not living at all."

"I can't believe you're broken so easily," Kittan said with an exasperated tone. "You lose once and now you don't even have the will to try even one more time! You don't care about us, you just want to go back to whatever sheltered place you came from and hide yourself from the real world!"

" _ **I**_ don't care about _**you**_?!" Nia yelled, pushed over the edge. "Really?! Is that how you see it?! NO! You don't care about me! I'm just here to be used by you! I'm what you need to win this war, that's why I'm here! Not because you care about me, but because you can use me! Why I have to do what you want?! I'm me! I'm not bound to any of you! I do what I want!"

People seemed really surprised by her sudden outburst. This was the first time Nia had ever raised her voice against someone that wasn't the enemy. Her voice sounded a lot more intimidating and less high pitched when she yelled too.

Kittan looked dumbfounded, but wasn't willing to give Nia the last word. "That's the most selfish thing I've ever heard in my entire life. You know who wouldn't have given up this easily? Simon! He would have kept going no matter what! And you say you knew him better than everyone else, and you don't even follow what he told us! Never give up!"

"I'm **NOT** Simon!" Nia yelled. "He isn't me and I'm not him! He's dead now! Whatever he would have done doesn't matter because he can't _do_ anything! I'm the one who took his place, and I'm the one who takes on the role of leader! Not him! Me! I say, you will all die against Lordgenome, and so will I! Give up and save your lives! That's what Simon would have wanted!"

"Simon wouldn't have lost to Lordgenome in the first place!" Kittan roared, stomping towards Nia to look down on her as he yelled. "Keep in mind it's _your_ fault we're stuck in this position! You were too weak to win!"

"I don't see you winning every battle and putting all of humanity on your shoulders! I overpower you infinitely! Lordgenome would break every fiber of your being without even trying! You're nothing!"

Kittan was fuming with anger now that Nia had directly insulted him and the thing he cares about most; his strength. "DAMN YOU! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

He pulled back his arm and grit his teeth. His fist swung down over Nia, but of course she was ready, excited even. She desperately need something to let her anger out on.

Nia reached up and caught Kittan's fist in her arm; the broken one. Rather than feeling pain, her arm actually felt stronger. Like something had locked into place, and now it was back to its old self, but even stronger. Needless to say, Kittan's hand was stopped easily by Nia's overwhelming strength. A shocked look washed over his face and Nia looked up at him with strong animosity.

Something was plainly unnatural about the situation. From an outsider's perspective, it would look like a little girl just caught the fist of a much stronger, muscular man. But it was always more than that. It was spiral power that gave Nia the power to outmatch Kittan. And that was when Nia realized it. Spiral power was just a crutch for her; she was literally nothing without it. Nobody cared about her without it, she couldn't do anything without it, spiral power was what defined Nia. Not personality or ideals or individual thoughts, but the strength of the power that she had bet her whole life on; that she had sacrificed her individuality to be able to use. Even if she had won the physical battle, she had lost the ideological one. Once again, she had been forced to rely on spiral power because of her own weakness.

" _No. Not anymore! I don't need it! I'm not defined by spiral power! I'm defined by me!"_

Nia released Kittan's arm and, going against all logical thought, he staggered back and prepared his arm for another enraged punch.

" _I remember Simon saying to defy logic to do the impossible. That explains Kittan's behavior I guess… How much have I deviated from what he had taught me…? How much should I depend on it anyway? I don't need Simon to tell me how to think. I'm independent from him! I'll make my own values; unique to me! And I don't need spiral power for that!"_

Kittan swung his fist again, but Nia took a different approach to defending this time. She nimbly sidestepped the attack and prepared herself for the next one. A left hook. Nia backpedaled it. Kittan swung his leg out trying to sweep Nia's feet out from under her, but she made a short hop to avoid it.

" _He fights dirty, clearly he was raised to fight with fists from wherever he came from… Still each and every attack he tries I can easily avoid. I'm too fast and my senses are too sharp. Even against my will, I can't not use my spiral power. I can't hurt him without using it and he can't hurt me because I have it. That means, if I really want to prove it to myself that I don't need it, I'd have to…"_

Nia planted her feet on the ground and left herself wide open for the gut punch Kittan threw at her. Rather than make any effort to dodge it, Nia kept still and just let it happen. Kittan smiled in delight as his fist made good contact with Nia's chest, sending her sprawling to the floor. Or at least, that's what he expected. What really happened was nothing; absolutely nothing. Kittan's fist struck Nia directly, and she didn't even budge. Instead, Kittan's arm just slid off of her like she was butter. A faint green glow had encompassed Nia's body when his fist made contact, and that seemed to have blocked it.

Nia just looked down at the ground for a second without moving, her long hair shielding her face from the crowd. Kittan just looked on in awe, not anger. The crowd did the same. The fight had clearly been decided, and everyone just waited in anticipation for whatever would come next.

A single tear formed in Nia's eye and rolled down her face before falling to the floor lightly. Nobody noticed it, but Nia still knew it happened. She turned around and slowly walked out of the door, passing by Leeron without making any form of eye contact, she just stared down at the floor.

Nia's legs carried her to her room. She unlocked the door stepped inside and softly shut the door behind her. The bed looked like the best place for her at the moment, so she gladly took the chance to relax on it.

" _I'm surprisingly calm… This must be a moment where my body's emotionally exhausted and is just taking a break. I'm sure I'd usually be crying by now, and I want to, but I don't need to… Is it because I think I understand my situation? I guess I'm not so different than the person I was when Simon found me… I still don't know many things about the world, or about myself even… But I'm learning at my own pace now. That's what I want to do. Be me. Who I was when I was back in the castle, that's the real me. Before I was shaped into whatever Team Dai-Gurren wanted me to be, what Simon had projected on me… Can I blame him for it though? I can tell he never had any intentions other than to make me happy. He didn't want for me to adopt his ways of thinking, he just wanted me to be me. I must have just been too easy to follow back then… And now… I think I know what I need to do to bring me happiness now. I'm just going to be myself and make an effort to be completely independent of my spiral power. I want to know who I am without it… To do that, I have to get away from here. Go somewhere and establish a life for myself. I don't want to fight in a war and I don't want to fight at all. I just want to take a break… Permanently… And I can't stay here any longer after what I said to everyone… They don't like me anymore, if they ever did… Does that mean I have no friends? I want to be liked by people…"_

Nia felt a small disturbance on the bed. As if something had just fallen on it. Just then, Boota was standing next to Nia's face with his large eyes and tiny furry body. He licked Nia's face once and gave her a large smile, a smile that was disproportionately big for the rest of his body. But Nia wasn't bothered.

"Thank you, my good pig mole," she said and laughed a little bit. Boota also snickered and smiled even wider. The cute little thing cuddled up on Nia's arm and fell asleep nearly instantly. Nia smiled at the sight and very carefully and slowly shifted around the rest of her body to get comfortable and tried to fall asleep with Boota. The arm he was going on was in an uncomfortable position, but Nia was too considerate to move it.

" _This kindness, even something as little as not moving to wake Boota up… This is what I feel defines me. It makes me happy to be able to do kindness for others… And that's what I've been missing from my life. This basic instinct to be nice to others, I've neglected it in order to focus on the war. But that's not me anymore. This is what I want to do and who I want to be from now on, this will make me happy. This is my… happiness…"_

Nia drifted off into a calm sleep. Peaceful dreams filled her unconscious mind for the first time since Simon had died. Not all of her dreams were bed since then, but none were good either. Something in her mind had clicked back into place, resolved itself. She was finally able to be at peace with herself and that's exactly what she had wanted. And yet, one more thing still had yet to be completed. One more story. One more arc.

* * *

A drill tip pierced the ground of the surface, making a small indentation in the rocky soil. A hand slapped itself next to it followed by a body sloppily rolling onto the ground beside it.

Simon panted as waves of sweat washed over his body. His muscles ached with exhaustion and his eyes squinted against the afternoon sun.

"Tha…t… was the mo….st.. exhausti...ng...thing…. I've ever done…" Simon panted. He felt like he had been climbing for hours. When he and Kamina had first drilled through there with Lagann it had only taken a few seconds, but having to climb all the way up, you could really get a good sense of scale. To make things harder for him, Simon had clumsily dropped the drill that the chief had given him and had to rely on his tiny core drill and bare hands to do the job.

"Water… Need it… now. . ."

Simon pulled his head up from the ground and observed the massive crater that he had climbed up to. Not a single drop of water in sight. Only dry, barren wasteland.

"There really is nothing in this world other than Gunmen…" Simon evaluated. He let out a defeated sigh before standing up and brushing the dirt off of his filthy outfit.

"Damn… Where do I even go from here… I didn't think this far ahead…" Simon complained. "Where is the Dai-Gurren? That's the big question here… If I were fighting a war, where would I be?"

Simon gave it a moment to consider his options.

" _Aha! A clever idea! I can just console in my core drill! It usually works in mysterious ways!"_

Simon reached up and grabbed a hold of his core drill. After closing his eyes, he focused all of his thoughts on the Dai-Gurren. The dore drill was eternally linked to Lagann by some mysterious power. One couldn't work without the other. In response to Simon's thoughts, the core drill started pulsating again. A hazy thought started to form in his mind. An image. Gradually it became more detailed.

" _It's… It's… The Dai-Gurren… and… It's surrounded by Gunmen!"_ Simon thought. The picture of the bright red Dai-Gurren surrounded by enemy Gunmen had appeared in his mind. Another thought also surfaced, arguably more important. A direction.

Simon spun to his left and broke off into a sprint.

" _It's this way! I know it!"_

A faint consciousness lulled Nia out of her sleep. She slowly blinked her open and observed the dark room that she had fallen asleep in. Boota looked to have already woken up and was sitting directly in front of Nia's line of sight. Once he noticed that Nia had, he began rambling on in incomprehensible pig mole speak. Several implicatory gestures toward the door of the room was mixed in with the endless ranting giving Nia a good idea of what Boota was trying to say.

"You're ready to leave? Is that it?" Nia asked quietly. Even though nobody else slept on her hall anymore, she still felt the need to keep from waking other people up, and more importantly to not draw attention to herself.

Boota gave a confirmatory nod.

"Could you do me a favor and go make sure it's late at night? I don't want to be have anyone catch me in the middle of the night."

Boota nodded again and hopped off the bed and scurried to the door. Nia rolled off after him and was about to open the door for him to get out, but he had already managed to squeeze his little body under the crack of the door.

"Oh…"

Sometime passed while Boota was gone; probably looking for a window to find where the moon was in the sky. This had given Nia some time to really consider the weight of her actions.

" _I don't want to be here anymore, I know that much. So my first objective is to sneak out of here in Gurren Lagann. It's mine to keep; I'm the only living person who can pilot it. Its of no use to Team Dai-Gurren so my taking it shouldn't cause them any problems. Except, if it's gone, everyone is going to know that I left them. Not that they wouldn't find out eventually anyway. But I need to be mindful of the Dai-Gurren's ability to track all Gunmen; including Gurren Lagann. My best move is probably to go somewhere far away from here as fast as possible… But what if someone is taking a night shift on the radar right now?! They'll notice Gurren Lagann's signature moving away… But nobody can really stop me, so why do I care... I guess I don't want to have any more bad interactions with the people here. I want to be gone and have it be quiet; I'll leave them to do what they please without me. But how will I survive on my own? Especially in this empty world... I can't really blend into a village, everybody should know me from the battle with the Four Generals. I can't even try to change my appearance, my features are too recognizable… I guess finding somewhere to live alone is what I'll have to do."_

Nia heard a wriggling sound coming from under her and Boota squeezed out from under the door again. Nia gave him an expectant look and Boota replied with an exaggerated nod.

"Thank you," Nia whispered. She reached her hand down toward the ground and opened her palm. Boota jumped onto it and Nia guided him to her shoulder. Boota perched himself atop Nia's shoulder and made a dramatic gesture for the door.

Nia laughed at the little pig mole's vigor. "We can't go just yet, there's some things I need to get first." She ruffled through her nightstand's drawers and grabbed all the clothes that she had and hung them on her arm. There were a surprising amount of them; Old Coco had really put in the work for her. Nia made a mental note to thank Old Coco someday if she could. She looked down at the table with the lamp on it. A dark object sat on top of it. Nia reached down and delicately grabbed it. The green rock Simon had given her; the only memento she had for his existence. It felt cold to the touch and didn't glimmer in the darkness. Nia slipped it into her pocket and headed for the door.

It quietly opened and Nia and Boota peered down the hall. Nobody. In an effort to keep quiet, Nia slipped off her red high heels.

" _I need some kind of shoes that are going to suitable for walking around in the wastelands… Bare feet won't go well with the rocky ground either..."_

Nia remembered something Simon had told her once. She walked over to his door and reached up over the door frame and felt around. Her finger touched a small, cold metal object. Nia grabbed it and examined it in the darkness. Simon's key. She slipped it into his door handle and slowly stepped inside his room. Empty, of course. Nia observed the unkempt room, bed sheets were scattered all over the bed and Simon's clothes were lying on the floor. Nia frowned at his untidiness. She tiptoed around the room and found what she was looking for. The shoes that he had let her wear when they had first met, they were still here somehow. He lost a pair when he died, so maybe he had two? Didn't matter.

The felt soft and comfortable, well worn on Nia's feet. With one problem solved, Nia sneak back into the hallway and picked up her other shoes. After making sure to close and lock Simon's door again, she made her way down the hallway. Back in the castle, she would sometimes sneak around the hallways for fun; because there wasn't much else to do. Nia was well aware of the best ways to be quiet. Rolling her feet prevented the thumping of shoes and keeping knees and arms bent prevented them for popping.

Without any unwanted interactions, Nia made her way into the hangar, using the small door rather than the bulkhead to keep quiet. She looked down the rows of Gunmen and the place that she had lost herself at earlier that day.

" _This is the last time I'll ever have to be here. All the machines of war… I can leave them behind."_

Gurren Lagann was one of the closest mechs to the deployment door, luckily for Nia, and she walked up to it and stared up at it. The red paint blended well with the darkness, the large glasses sticking out as the defining feature of the mech. All the dents and holes it had endured in the battle against Lordgenome were gone now, probably thanks to the mechanics. Nia walked toward the stairway that led to the upper level where she would be able to get into Lagann. A figure stepped out of the shadows to block her. Nia's heart skipped as many beats possible without stopping completely, but she calmed down a little when she recognized the form. Dangling hair, curvy form, scant clothing; Yoko.

"Yoko.. I-" Nia started.

"Don't bother. I know what you're here to do," Yoko stated.

"You do?" Nia said,shocked by how Yoko would claim to know what she's doing.

"Of course. Why else would someone pack up all their clothing and sneak out their Gunmen in the middle of the night. You're leaving. Aren't you?"

"... Yes. I am. Now, I don't want to have to argu-"

"I'm not going to stop you," Yoko interrupted.

"What? Then, why are you here?"

"Because," Yoko said grabbing a box from the shadows with a small grunt. "You're going to need these."

Yoko held a box with an assortment of food rations in them; easily enough to last Nia a few weeks alone. Nia was startled by Yoko's surprise support of her treasonous decision. Yoko placed the box on the ground in front of her and looked up at Nia with a smile.

"Why…? Why would you do this for me?" Nia asked, dumbfounded. "Don't you hate me for abandoning you?"

"I can't hate you Nia. You're too… you, y'know. At least you are now, anyways. I can see how having to take up the leadership role has affected you; it's plain to see that you're not cut out for it and don't want to do it. We all have our own reasons, and I understand yours. I want to support you, I think that _some_ other members of the team can't really understand people very well."

"Thank you very much, Yoko," Nia said genuinely, now giving a smile of her own. "What are you planning on doing from here? It seems like you want to not give your life up as well."

"Eh, that's not really who I am," Yoko explained. "I'm staying here with these meatheads and fighting it out until the end. I knew a guy like that once. Never giving up even when fighting on is a terrible idea. I resented him for his lack of concern for his life; or at least that's how I saw it then. Now, I've changed my perspective, I understand why he would act the way he _did_ care about his life, but he wanted to live it the way he wanted to. If he couldn't live like that, why was he even living? I'm sure you can relate to that, right Nia?"

Those words struck a chord with Nia's heart. "Yes. I understand them perfectly. I too just want to live in the way that makes me happy, and I don't think that I can get that here. So I'm going to look for it. I'll find what makes me happy no matter how long it takes. Even if that happiness doesn't exist for me, I'll search anyway. At least then, I can understand what it is that I want and who it is that I am."

"Well said, princess," Yoko said with an understanding nod. "Whatever it is you're looking for, I hope you find it out there somewhere. But keep in mind, if you even want to come back to us, you're always welcome with me. I'm not sure if you'll ever feel that way, and even if you do, if any of us will still be alive for you to come back to. Today was a rough day of fighting for us, I'm not sure if you knew. We had some very close calls and it's possible that we could all die tomorrow. But if that's how it's going to be, I'll gladly accept."

"I think I understand what you're feeling. I'll keep your offer in mind," Nia said. "Thank you for everything, Yoko."

"Don't worry about it. Good luck out there, Nia," Yoko replied, picking up the box of food rations and following Nia up the steps to the upper level. Nia placed her spare clothes in the floorboard of Lagann and Yoko put the food rations in the space next to the seat. They gave each other their final goodbyes and Yoko gave Boota one last pet.

Nia climbed down into the cockpit seat with Boota on her shoulder and grabbed her core drill in her hand.

" _This is the last thing I should ever need to use spiral power for. I'll live the rest of my life without it. No more being dependent!"_

The core drill fit perfectly into the spiral gauge as it always did and Nia turned it. Gurren Lagann silently came to life. Nia grabbed the controls and slowly lifted Gurren Lagann off the ground and away from the wall. She looked down at Yoko who was waving goodbye to her. Yoko slammed her hand on the button that opened up the main hangar doors. Now with nothing between her and freedom, Nia waved back at Yoko and hovered out of the hangar for the last time. Having the ability of flight came in handy when you didn't want a giant metal machine to thump along the ground loudly.

The full midnight moon shone brightly above Nia's head, illuminating the vast expanse with a mysterious light. Nia closed her eyes and focused.

" _Teppelin is straight ahead… So I'll go the opposite direction."_

Nia flew up and over the bridge of the Dai-Gurren and passed over the stern of the battleship, heading straight away from everything. All the fighting and conflict was behind her now. Her father who had abandoned her, she was now doing the same to him.

"I wonder if he thinks I died from that?" Nia said. "What do you think, Boota?"

"Bui! Buii!" Boota replied. Just by the tone and pitch of the noises Boota would make, Nia could understand what Boota meant. Maybe not as well as Simon, who seemed to have developed a concrete language by which to communicate with Boota. It was strange.

Once Nia had flown away from the Dai-Gurren for maybe an hour, she slowed down the pace to take in the land and scout for a good spot to make a temporary home, or maybe a permanent one. It depended on how much she liked it. One thing was common for everything Nia saw, they were all empty and bland landscapes.

"There really is nothing in this world other than Gunmen," Nia observed. Boota nodded in agreement. "Where are all the trees and flowers I learned about from the castle? I wonder… If this world always looked this barren? Could there have been a world the was covered with flowers and trees before? I would have liked to see that. That would be a beautiful place, lots of flowers and other kinds of plants. I want to live somewhere like that. I think Simon would have liked to see a world like that too. After attaining peace, what would he do? I can't really say for sure… Maybe he would have followed me wherever I go? That's a nice thought. How about you Boota? Do you miss Simon?"

Boota gave a sorrowful nod. But he didn't stay sad for long, as he decided to leave Nia's shoulder to burrow into the food rations Yoko had given her.

"Don't do anything rash, Boota. We need to share those," Nia explained. She hoped Boota wouldn't eat anything, restocking food wasn't something that Nia had thought out all the way yet. But little problems like those didn't bother her very much, she had the freedom to do whatever she wanted now. That was all she could have hoped for.

* * *

Simon crested yet another ridge, looking down at the expanse that lay before him. All day had been spent traveling in a straight line across the featureless world. How long had Simon gone? He didn't know, but it felt like a long ways. The world was covered in large craters for some unknown reason. And that was all that Simon had found today, empty craters, until now. Of in the distance, Simon spotted something he never expected to find this soon.

"No way… Is that… Could it be…." Simon questioned in stunned awe. The one thing he had been looking for the whole time, he had finally found it; "Water!"

Simon broke off into a sprint and headed for the large stream that flowed freely in front of him. His throat was incredibly dry for having not drank anything in so long. Or eaten anything for that matter. Once he reached the stream he slid down on his knees and cupped his hands in the water. He pulled his hands to his mouth and drank all of the delicious water he could. It was the most refreshing feeling he had ever felt in his not even a day long life. After taking his fill, he peered down into the water and gazed at his reflection. The chief was right, something was off about his left eye. In the rippling water Simon could make out the faint shape of a green spiral etched into his eye. It shone a bright green color.

"That's… actually pretty cool!" Simon explained. "Just another thing to add to my ever evolving look. But if spiral power can do that to my body, I wonder what other things it'll do. Well, this one seems pretty harmless to me at least."

Taking advantage of the water supply while it was here, Simon took off his coat and shorts and soaked them in the water for a while. Most of the dirt and dust that they had acquired from the climbing expedition were washed off easily, leaving clean clothes for him once again.

"Hmm, Gurren Lagann's that way," Simon said pointing across the stream. It was a good forty or so feet wide, a good size. "So I have to cross this if I want to get to it. But I can't swim, so I hope this doesn't get too deep… Never had the chance to mess around with water like this underground or during the war…"

Simon took some time to come up with a cautious plan for conquering the river. First, he removed his shoes and threw them to the other side of the stream, landing safely and dryly on the bank.

" _Good, don't want to get those things wet."_

Simon next swung his newly clean clothes over his shoulder to free up his hands and took a trepidatious step into the water. It was slightly cold, but not deadly, so Simon slowly put both feet into the water. He kept on walking deeper into the stream until he was about halfway through and the water was only up to his waist. After breathing a sigh of relief, Simon used the opportunity to clean himself up. He dunked his head underwater to get all of the dust and dirt of it and ran his hands through it a few times to keep it messy. Once satisfied, Simon walked the rest of the way across the stream and stepped into his shoes again. His feet would still make them slightly soggy, but not as much as if they had been completely submerged in water.

Simon was still dripping wet, so he shook off as much water off his body as possible before getting back on track and heading for Gurren Lagann. As he walked, he wrung the water out of his clothes that he washed and slipped them back on when he felt dry. Simon looked up at the full moon as he walked, marveling at its beauty.

" _Even in this empty world, there's still things of beauty to look at,"_ Simon thought. " _I refuse to believe that this is what the world always looked like. Sometime before, I know that this world was covered in beauty. How it became like this, I don't know. I want to see it restored to its former glory. I'm sure Nia would think the same. She would want to see peace and beauty in the world. I hope. I hope she is still the same person she was when I died. Nia earnest and endearing, those qualities are what I liked most about her. But who did she become after I died? I know that I changed for the worst after Kamina died… I don't know what would have happened to me if I didn't meet Nia. I hope she's okay. I know she's alive, but is she still Nia? I guess it won't be too long until I find out… Hmm? What's this feeling I'm getting…. Gurren Lagann, it's coming this way! I can sense it! Why? What is it doing?"_

Simon pondered the question as he continued the long trek across more barren wasteland, very slowly getting closer to his goal.


	12. TWO FOLD RETURN(it's a clever title)

_Chapter 12:_

 _Return: Twofold_

 _IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE END ALSO DOES ANYONE ACTUALLY REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED UP TO THIS POINT?_

The land continued on infinitely, the same bland features covering seemingly every inch of land. Here and there, there might be a clump of grass or two, but nothing more. Nia and Boota continued on surveying the landscape all through the night and into dawn before they found somewhere worthwhile.

"Hey Boota!" Nia exclaimed, eyes slowly widening. "Do you want to come take at look at this spot? I think it might be a good place to stay!"

Boota stopped rummaging through the food rations and joined Nia on her shoulder. They both took a good long look at the landscape ahead of them.

"Look at that! There's grass everywhere! And I think I see a few flowers and even a small river!" Nia explained. "And look! There's even a hill with a small cave carved into the side! We can sleep there and keep Gurren Lagann hidden! It's wonderful! Perfect!"

"Buiii! Bui. Buuuuiiiii!" Boota joined in, sounding excited.

Nia steered Gurren Lagann towards their possible new home, the features becoming more detailed. Knee high grass covered a mostly flat landscape that sloped upwards into a series of large hills, one of which having a small cave burrowed into the side. A small river ran down the hillside and through the grassy area and culminated into a small pool in the field. Some large boulders jutted out of the ground, all of them easily twice Nia's height, giving character to the grassy landscape. Purple and blue flowers grew out of some cracks in the boulders, adding a colorful flair to the dark hunks of rock. Overall, it was the absolute best possible place for the pair to come across, as well as being the only vegetation covered spot that they had seen so far.

Slowly, Nia guided Gurren Lagann into the cave she had found. It was just big enough to hold Gurren Lagann when she crawled in there and put it in a kneeling position. Other than the large Gunmen parked inside of it, the cave was empty. Nia secured Gurren Lagann in a concealed position where could also still climb into it if there was ever the need. But Nia didn't ever expect or want to use any bit of spiral power again, so she saw that Gurren Lagann likely won't ever move again unless she and Boota were to move.

"Come on Boota!" Nia said and opened the cockpit. "Let's go and see the sunrise!"

They slid down Gurren Lagann's arm and landed on the hard ground. The sunrise was visible from the cave's entrance and Nia and Boota took a seat on the grassy ground just outside the cave. The horizon turned a mixture of reds and oranges with the slow rising of the sun, bathing the ground in sunlight. The stream glimmered clear and brightly under the morning sun. Ever inch of the land looked alive and colorful.

"I think that this place will do nicely, don't you think so Boota?" Nia asked. She turned her head to her shoulder and saw Boota's nods of approval.

After the sunrise was over, Nia found herself to be sufficiently hungry. She climbed up into Lagann and took a look at the food supply. She heard what sounded like a faint snicker from Boota to accompany the horrific sight in front of her.

"Boota… Did you eat half of the food supply that we were meant to share?" Nia asked in the sweetest tone possible. Boota could only give some nervous chuckles.

"How… How could you eat half of the food!?" Nia asked. "You're body isn't even as big as all the food you ate!"

Nia wasn't really mad, she was still ecstatic over the discovery of a nearly perfect home. Most of the food was just fruits and vegetables anyway, the things that the 'meatheads' as Yoko would say on the Dai-Gurren neglected to eat. They would probably have rotted before they could have eaten them all anyway, so Nia just gave Boota a light tap on the head as punishment and chose a pear to eat.

After getting a good two hours of sleep, the dawn sun woke Simon up. He was brought into a world of aches and pains from having to rest on the rough and rocky ground. Even though he didn't sleep long, Simon felt completely refreshed in terms of energy. He pushed himself off the ground and was startled by the shooting pain that went up and down his arms.

"Damn, guess I should probably stretch a little bit," Simon said followed by grunts of effort when he reached his arms up high into the air. Gradually the soreness in his arms faded and Simon flexed his arm to make sure they were working like normal.

"Alright, not the le-" Simon said, cut off by a sudden earthquake. The quake threw Simon onto his hands and knees. He whipped his head around to see the source of the tremors. A spiraling cloud of dust was thrown up high into the air before dissipating and revealing exactly what Simon had expected. A bull headed Gunmen looked back at him with menacing eyes. Two horns sprouted out of the black and gray body and a metallic ring attached itself to the end of the snout. Two stubby arms and legs were all it had in the way of moveable appendages and that was really all Simon could see before he turned tail and ran.

" _Damn it! This is not a good time for this! I didn't finish stretching my legs! Ow- Pulled a muscle I think!"_ Simon thought as he ran, the Gunmen running after him, shaking the ground with each step. " _I guess it's also not good that I don't have a weapon… This is bad… I'm already feeling tired… It's taking all of my spiral power to be able to outrun this thing… Not sure how long I can keep this up… I thought that Lordgenome stopped deploying Gunmen like this… Maybe I'm just… Unlucky."_

Simon ran as fast as his legs would take him, jacket flapping behind him wildly. He took a glance back to see how far away the thing was now, only to be greeted with the sight of it pulling the ring off of its nose a holding it high above his head.

" _He''s going to throw it at me?! This is not a funny joke…"_

The Gunmen swung its arm around and threw the ring of death with deadly accuracy. Simon dodged rolled to the side just in time to see the huge ring hit the place where he just was, only to fly into the air and return to the Gunmen's arm like a boomerang.

" _How does that even work!? This just keeps getting worse… Wait! Is that-"_

Off in the distance, Simon spotted familiar looking set of hills; one barren and the other with what looked like a stick with a piece of cloth attached to it sticking out from the crest.

" _That's Kamina's grave! It has to be! I'm sorry for what I'm about to do Bro, please forgive this! I don't have a choice!"_

Simon hit his second wind and continued to narrowly dodge the ring attacks until he reached the base of the hill. He ran up the side hastily and reached the top where Kamina's sheathed sword stuck out from the ground, his cape flapping in the wind from being tied to the handle. Simon reached out and ripped the cape off and threw it to the side. He pulled the sword from the ground and threw the scabbard to the side. Blade drawn, Simon whipped around to meet a punch from the Gunmen with a sideways slice. He held a gritty smile as the the attacks took turns pushing each other back. Simon eventually gave it his last bit of energy and tore through the Gunmen's arm cleanly, sending explosions up the arm and into the cockpit area, all of it erupting into flames.

Completely disregarding his victory, Simon sprinted down the other side of the hill to snatch Kamina's cape before it blew away. Now exhausted, Simon fell to the ground to take a break and catch his breath. The sword clanged to the ground beside him. Simon panted for a few minutes until he felt rejuvenated.

"That was a lucky break for me. I don't even know a thing about swordplay and still managed to overpower that Gunmen."

Simon reached out beside him to pick up the sword and found it surprisingly heavy to hold. Not to the point that he wouldn't able to carry it, but enough to weigh him down a significant amount.

"I definitely wouldn't even be able to swing this thing as fast as I did back there without being under the influence of spiral power. As usual, spiral power pulls through when I can't… Well, I guess it's not really like that. It's because I believe that I'm able to make use of spiral power, not that it helps me indefinitely. Like the voice said, it's an extension of my spirit and therefore it's a part of me. Whatever it can do is something I can do because it's a part of me. I'm the one with control here. I hope the day never comes when I can't use it though. I'm not sure I can manage to win as many battles without using spiral power. I need to learn to become stronger without it, just in case… Maybe I'll do some strength training when I get the time…"

Simon picked himself up off the ground and bent back over to grab Kamina's cape and sword. The cape was way too big for Simon to wear and definitely a deadweight to carry. He carried the tho items back to the top of the hill and then placed the cape down on the ground.

"Sorry Kamina, I'm going to have to leave your cape alone like this. For now, I need this sword for protection. I'm sure you understand. Thanks for everything. I need to say that while I'm here, when I'll be back is something I don't know. But for now, I hope you're back in your manly world in whatever dimension."

Giving it a moment's thought, Simon grabbed a large rock and placed it on Kamina's cape.

" _Good. That should stop it from blowing away in the wind at least…"_

Simon also retrieved the scabbard and returned the long sword to its home and slung it over his shoulder like Kamina would do. Like earlier, it was slightly heavy, but not enough to make it not worth carrying.

"Alright! Back on track! I was lucky enough to run in Gurren Lagann's direction when fleeing for my life, so I've made some good time," Simon said happily. "Even after that exhilarating battle, the sun has only barely risen… I'm hungry… and thirsty…"

Simon set off again in the direction of Gurren Lagann, more grueling days of walking still lay ahead.

The sun rose again over the lush grassland where Nia and Boota had established their new home and new life. The rays reached into the cave, casting light onto the two sleeping figures.

Boota let out a massive pig mole yawn and Nia sat up and stretched her arms. She opened her eyes to find the same sunrise that she had seen for the past few days now. Five days had passed since the duo started living in the cave. They had quickly adapted to the light survival life they now lived. Nia and Boota rolled of their grass woven beds that Nia had made on the first day. Some of the seemingly useless things that she had been taught back in the castle were now becoming useful, including the numerous times that Nia had been taught how to weave and sew. Boota would pluck blades of grass and Nia would delicately weave them together until the had one tiny ban and a human sized bed. They proved to be very comfortable, the masterful weaving style made sure no blades of grass stuck to the body. Next, Nia and Boota rummaged through their food storage for some breakfast. They had spent most of the second day scavenging through the grasslands for food. Every now and then, they would come across some vegetables in the ground or a berry bush. To make sure they weren't poisonous, Boota would test each one of them. Nia had been taught a variety of things about the animals that inhabited the world, including the fact that pig moles could eat almost anything without being negatively affected, including dirt. Whenever Boota would spit something out, they wouldn't add it to the rations. When he liked something, they plucked or pulled as many of it as they could and added them to the food supply. There was one fruit that had a particularly strong smell, some purple berries that were growing on a bush. Boota liked the taste though, so they picked those too. After filling it to the top, Nia and Boota returned to the cave with the food and left it there for whenever they would get hungry. This morning, Nia ate a few purple berries that Boota had particularly liked and Boota ate the last of the pears. Feeling thirsty, Nia went outside and walked to the river to take a drink of the fresh water. It tasted good, better then the water they had stored on the Dai-Gurren. All the essentials of food, water, and shelter were provided by the land and were readily available at any time. Nia and Boota were set.

With the peaceful life they now lived, Nia was happily content. There were no life or death situations to face, no having to kill your own family, no incredibly painful injuries. Only the slow and peaceful life that Nia wanted.

Nia returned to the cave to watch the rest of the sunrise like she usually did. Boota joined her atop her shoulder, like he usually did.

"It's nice, isn't it Boota?" Nia asked. "Not having to do anything for anyone but yourself, I'm happy this way."

"Bui!"

"Maybe other people would see this as lonely, but I don't feel that way. Even if I have no friends, other than you of course, I don't think I'm lonely. When I lived with my father, I didn't have any friends either, so I must just be used to it… And I have the memories of the scarce time I was able to spend with my friends, and all the time with Simon. I enjoy it here, and I enjoy being myself finally. I feel a sense of identity now, stripped of outside influence and devoid of using spiral power, I'm free to explore myself. My needs and my wants and my preferences, their all mine and I understand me. Finally, at peace… But… It still isn't over, don't you think Boota?"

"Bui, buii," Boota agreed.

"This isn't the end of it for us. The fighting will go on, and we're still a part of it whether we want to be or not. It will find us indefinitely. I don't want it to, but I know it will. But for now, I think I'll just enjoy this peace while I can…"

A midnight moon loomed high over Simon as he trudged on weakly. He had already been walking all through the night having developed an irregular sleep schedule due to the circumstances. Usually, if Simon was not at a water source, he would refuse to let his body sleep until he found one. Hydration was the biggest hurdle that had to be overcame followed by starvation and intense boredom. Right now, Simon had been going for at least a day nonstop, having not found a single water hole or stream for many miles. His energy got so low that he had no choice but to leave Kamina's sword behind. Even if it was his only protection, it was too much weight for Simon to handle. Reluctantly, he stuck it in the ground and left it behind. Still, he hobbled on, not oblivious to the fact that he was just minutes away from his destination. The moonlight lit a straight path to a moderately sized grassland area, about as big as the one where Simon, Kamina, and Yoko had gone hunting.

" _Almost there… I think- I think I hear something… It sounds like… water… mmm…"_ Simon fantasized. It may have been his mind undergoing severe delusions out of dehydration, but Simon could swear he heard a river or something similar.

A tiny pebble blocked Simon's path, unbeknownst to him. Carelessly, his weak left foot grazed the top of said pebble and delivered Simon to the dry, hard ground. An easy mistake to make, and yet, so unexpectedly devastating.

" _Damn,"_ Simon thought picking himself up off the ground and inspecting his bloodied knee. " _My body's like paper now, I've taken way harder hits than this and not even got a scratch, but to be beaten by the terrain… How sad."_

Like Simon had observed, his body had become relatively fragile in its current state of malnourishment. A disproportionately large amount of blood spilled from the scrape, wasting precious liquid material in Simon's body. Not to mention, a fair amount of dirt had stuck to the cut, putting it at risk of infection.

" _Infection? Leeron warned me about the dangers of infection. He told me I might have to get something amputated to keep it from spreading! I can't live the rest of my life with only one leg holding me up! Damn, I'm too scared to wipe it off either. I doubt my hands are any cleaner; Leeron warned me about bacteria too. How they feast on my blood and use my body as breeding grounds! I don't like that either! I've got to go get to that water and wash this stuff off!"_

Simon made an awkward looking attempt at running, but the limping in the left leg and lack of energy barely put him at an average walking speed. Paranoia seeded itself in the back of Simon's mind and grew like a weed until only irrational and improbable thought occupied Simon's mind.

" _What if there is no water up ahead and I'm wasting my energy!? What if that's lava I hear! Could it be?! I remember seeing rivers of lava at those volcano things! Are those hills up there really holls, or are they volcanoes?! How can I be sure? Now that I think about it… They do kinda look like volcanoes!"_ Simon concluded. His mind was playing an obvious trick on him, but he failed to see through it even with above average intellect. The dark, moonlit hills gradually morphed into steep volcanoes in Simon's eyes. Sweat started to pour from his body and the sound of panting followed soon after.

" _When did it get so… hot? I feel like I'm on fire here! Maybe I should take my jacket off… And my pants… Yeah… Yeah, that's a good idea! I'm pretty clever! If Kamina could see me now! I just know he'd be proud of who he sees! I'm sure Nia will appreciate this problem solving ability too, like what if she fell into a big hole and I couldn't find a rope? And then I'd just go down there myself and try and find a rope for her! Damn… That's not a bad plan if I ever need to use it. I hope I don't though. If Nia isn't smart enough to find her own rope then that might be a problem, unless there is no rope and then I'll be okay with her not finding one. That sounds like it could be made into a good philosophy! I'll call it individualism, and force it on everyone at birth until it become ingrained in a hypothetical human culture to the extent where not believing in it is a crime and one should be ridiculed for believing otherwise even if there is no proof that individualism is more correct than any other philosophy… No, scratch that… That's not a good idea… I should focus on where I'm going…"_

After some self-indulgent commentary on the nature of human culture that had yet to fully develop in this divided world, Simon kept a keen focus on the grasslands ahead of him which may have volcanoes or may not. The line where the desert stopped and turned into grass was only a few feet ahead of Simon now.

" _Heh, this stuff feels weird on my skin…"_ Simon thought as he stepped into the knee high grass. The delusions of volcanoes faded to the back of Simon's mind as he spotted something even more important.

" _Ohhh man… Look at that beauty! So big too!"_

The irresistible looking river had put Simon's brain on a one way road to intense hydration.

" _I've been looking all over for you,"_ Simon thought, looking down at the flowing stream below him. It glittered beautifully in the moonlight.

"Drink me, Simon," the river called to Simon's mind in a non-sexual way.

Unable to resist the urge, Simon dunked his head fully underwater and inhaled a mouthful of water and slowly swallowed it. It felt like a thick layer of crust was being washed off of Simon's throat, polishing it nicely. The massive, sudden influx of water sent feel good signals throughout his body and rewarded Simon for a hard day's work. Common sense returning, Simon focused in on the _real_ reward he was going to get out of all of this. He pulled his head out of the water and gasped for air.

" _Okay, that's done. Now time to get serious… Gurren Lagann, it's very close… which means Nia should be too. Hopefully. Maybe. I've got a really bad feeling that something's wrong. This can't be this easy…"_

Simon scanned the landscape, taking in every detail of the terrain.

" _Lots of grass, a rock with some flowers, some hills… Aha! A cave! That's gotta be it! But now I have to cross this damn river! And I should probably put my jacket back on! Why do I even have this thing off to begin with…?"_

Simon slipped his arms through the sleeves of his jacket. The river was large enough to be considered a river, a bit bigger than the streams he had found on the way here. Using the same strategy as he had before, Simon made his way into the river. His shoes taunted him from their safety on the other side. Laughing at his wetness. The river wasn't so deep and Simon was able to walk across it with no trouble and found himself wringing out his clothes yet again.

" _Feels like I've been doing this a lot lately,"_ Simon thought. " _But not for long! I'm about to have a completely different lifestyle! It won't be long until I meet back up with Nia. After what feels like an eternity… Well if I only knew her for a little over a week that is an eternity compared to the months I felt like I spent in death. Those days are still so vivid and real despite being and feeling fake. Sitting around, doing nothing, waiting for… something to change. I'll probably still sit around and do nothing every now and then when this is all over… But I won't do it alone. Nia will be there too, I'd rather do nothing but still spend time with Nia then do just about anything alone."_

Simon dreamed about the world that might come as he made the slow march to the cave. He was well aware of the sinking feeling forming in his heart. The doubts he harbored about this whole situation were easily overshadowed by the thought of happiness, but still lingered in Simon's consciousness no less. One question spoke louder than all the rest.

 **What is Nia doing here of all places?**

The thought caught Simon's attention for a moment, be he dismissed on the grounds that whatever the answer was he was going to find out soon. The cave was not too far away from him now, he could even see parts of Gurren Lagann concealed within the depths. If his heart had sank before, it had dropped out of his chest now. It still beat wildly from wherever it was, pounding and beating in an effort to keep Simon's incredibly anxious state under control. He tiptoed onwards, not daring to make a sound that could possibly disturb the silence.

From the distance he was at now, it was confirmed for him. A figure lay on the ground in the darkness. Whether or not it was Nia, Simon wasn't sure because of the darkness. But who else would it be? Simon picked up the pace until he was quietly sprinting over the grass at breakneck speed, eyes locked on the figure which gradually became more and more detailed. In moments, he was standing at the cave's mouth, straining himself to not make any panting noises from the running. That was, if the sound of his heart wasn't loud enough to be heard across the world.

A large amount of fears and doubts that Simon had before were instantly quashed by the look of Nia's peacefully sleeping figure. There was no protection against the bombardment of thoughts that all struck Simon's mind at once. He took a few tenacious steps into the cave and

" _I'm really here, with Nia again, those are the same white nightclothes she had before, anyone who looks that peaceful can't be but so troubled, that bed looks comfortable, why is Nia here, is that Boota in a tiny pig mole bed, when did Nia learn how to weave, I'm sort of hungry; I really hope my-"_

A loud noise broke the silence as well as Simon's train of thought. The growl of his stomach sounded out and echoed through the cave. Nia's peaceful body shuffled a little bit and her eyes squinted in reaction to the disturbance.

" _Oh no! Not like this! Not yet! I need some time! Don't wake up! Don't even try it!"_ Simon pleaded, not moving a single muscle as to not add any further possible noises. Nia eventually curled up and returned to a normal looking sleep. Simon breathed a silent sigh of relief.

" _Thank goodness. That could have been bad,"_ Simon thought. " _Well… There's really no reason for me to not wake her now other than to let her get a good rest. That's the only reason I need I guess… I need to get some food. I'm dying of starvation; literally. There has to be some food in here somewhere."_

Simon poked and prodded around the nearly empty cave until he found not food, but something else. A tiny green stone sat atop a pile of Nia's folded up clothes, very neatly folded of course, and sparkled in the faint moonlight. A smile spread onto Simon's face.

" _At least I know she's kept me in her thoughts… That could be both good and bad though… I'll find out for sure now! No more doubts! I'm here! Nia's here! Boota is also here. And I'm not going to let anything ruin this reunion that I've longed for so hard that I broke out of death's prison and travelled across dimensions just to find my way back to her! I'll be damned if_ _ **anything**_ _else will_ _ **ever**_ _go wrong now! I'm not dying, and there's no way in the world that I'm going to let Nia die! Things are going to be perfect from here on out and I'll make them that way! Nia deserves it and so do I! I also deserve food! Where did they hide it?"_

A box tucked under the kneeling Gurren Lagann caught Simon's attention. He tiptoed over to that and gently lifted the box up. It was a little heavy, but it was also full of delicious looking foods. The lack of meat didn't bother Simon in the slightest, he was about ready to eat dirt. Or Boota. He took the box over to one of the cave walls near Nia and took a seat. Reaching into the box of foods, Simon pulled out an odd shaped fruit. It bulged out at the ends and squeezed together in the middle, providing a good place to hold it if anything.

Simon took a small bite, just to test the taste. Luckily, it didn't crunch in his mouth and was very soft, and quiet. As for the taste, it was nothing incredible. Like a lot of other fruits Simon had eaten, this one was sweet and that's about all that could be said about it. Not that it matter, Simon was just happy to eat _something_ that wasn't terrible for once.

After all of the struggles it took to reach this point, the atmosphere was surprisingly tame. Nia was curled up in a comfortable looking position, using her cloud-like hair almost as a pillow. Simon watched the slow rise and fall of her chest as he ate, enjoying the slow paced life he was being allowed to live. Most of Simon's worries were forgotten on Nia's relaxed face, drowning out the reality that threatened to sour the moment. It was probable that Lordgenome still lived; Simon would have to confront him once and for all. His power was an unknown for Simon, clearly enough to be able to subjugate an entire race but not enough to kill any of Team Dai-Gurren yet. As far as Simon knew, at least. Even beyond that, what were they supposed to do if they won? How would they spread the word to every human? Would they make a new world together, or would everyone decide to stay separated. Who was going to make sure that nothing else threatened humanity's safety? Who would protect them from each other? There were plenty of similar questions that could be asked, bet they were distant enough.

" _Maybe this is just my mind's way of holding onto its sanity. I've been through some damaging situations in my life. My parents dying in an earthquake, the trauma it caused me. Fighting in numerous life or death situations, none of them being a guaranteed win. I even died once. Losing Kamina… It hasn't been easy. It's hard to believe I've been able to not completely go insane from all the stress. If I would pretend it wasn't there, sometimes I'd feel better. Other times I'd kick and scream and cry until I pulled through. I haven't cried in a while though… I guess I don't need it now, I've got what I want. I think. So I can safely let myself go and not worry about anything. Even if just for a day… The moon's almost set, moring is nearly here. Nia's going to wake up and find me here. I haven't even figured out what I'm going to say yet. 'I'm back, sorry for dying so suddenly'. That won't work. Why bother and come up with a script, I'll just say what I feel in the moment… Nia looks happy now. It feels like an eternity since I've seen her face… I guess this is kind of creepy; watching someone sleep while eating food. Oh well, nobody's here but us. I know Nia probably wouldn't mind anyway… I wonder if she's cold wearing that. It looks pretty thin to me, but it doesn't feel cold anyway so it doesn't matter… Does her hair really make a good pillow like that? It looks soft enough, I don't think I've ever really touched it and paid attention to the texture. I've got years ahead of me to find out though. Assuming she wants to be with me after what's happened. I don't even know it this Nia is anything like the Nia I knew before. Loss can change a person in a lot of ways. But I hope she still likes me. I barely got the chance to know her before I died. There's plenty more for me to learn about Nia; what she likes and what she enjoys doing and what foods she likes and what her opinions on the moon is and where she would want to live and things like that. It's kind of exciting, being able to get to understand someone on that level. Together. I knew Kamina like that, but I didn't love him as anything more than my undying soul brother for life, which is a pretty big title too… Damn, that weird fruit things all gone, just when I was really warming up to it."_

Simon reached into the box again and pulled out a clump of purple berries. He threw one into his mouth and chomped down on it. It had a unique sour-sweet taste, unlike anything Simon had ever experienced before. An exotic flavor from an exotic land… that also had another quirk to it. The strong scent of the berries wafted their way into Simon's nose. He enjoyed the sweet smell, giving the berries even more dimensions as food.

" _Hmm, this stuff's kinda strong. I hope it doesn't wake Nia up or…"_ Simon came to the sudden realization that he had just doomed himself. The purple berries fell to his side as he tried his damndest to keep completely still...

Boota's nose twitched a few times, the only movement present in the cave.. The sound of a sharp intake of air sounded out quietly.

" _Oh no… Don't do it… Please Boota!"_

The tiny pig mole shot up from its tiny bed, eyes closed and nose out. He sniffed the air a few more times until he found the source of the smell. Simon cringed.

Boota's tiny eyes locked onto Simon who was frantically shaking his head side to side and waving his arms. His heartbeat started racing.

"Be quiet," Simon mouthed silently to Boota, who just started at him for some time. Just when Simon thought Boota understood, the little guy soared out of his bed, lept over Nia's still sleeping body, and landed squarely in Simon's lap.

" _Damn… it… Time's up I guess,"_ Simon thought as Boota let out an impassioned cry.

"BUI! BUIII BUUUIIIIII!" the pig mole yelled with surprising volume. The sound echoed out through the small cave a few times before dissipating into nothingness. Boota crawled up and down Simon's body until settling down on his shoulder.

Of course, the disturbance had lulled Nia out of her sleep. She let out a small yawn, Simon's heart melting at the indescribably cute gesture, and stretched out her arms and legs with still closed eyes. Simon started on in mystified awe as Nia sat herself up in the bed and rubbed her eyes.

" _Here we go…"_

The fateful encounter loomed over Simon, casting an even bigger shadow over him the the roof of the cave. Simon's mind counted the seconds until the inevitable. A combination of excitement and nervousness washed over him. Little droplets of sweat began to form on his arm. Nia was still stretching herself out, somehow still not opening her eyes. More sweat formed.

" _Damn it!"_ Simon thought. " _Now's not a good time to be covered in sweat! I have to be presentable for Nia!"_

Simon nudged Boota to the floor and frantically, but quietly, slid off his jacket ad wiped his arms up and down. The sweat disappeared, but now Simon found himself without any kind of shirt. And he couldn't put the sweat covered jacket back on, he'd still smell like sweat. Mind overloaded with stress, he discarded the jacket, throwing it into the grass outside. Next, he took some deep breaths to stop himself from hyperventilating, which would form more sweat and be completely counter productive. Nia opened up her eyes now. Simon watched as her pink, flower shaped pupils adjusted to the darkness. Her long, flowing hair fell behind her, really coming alive in the otherwise dark and dreary cave. It was like the time Simon had first met her, once again enthralled by her perfectness and beauty. Her slightly pale skin also contrasting with the low light, giving her a radiant, almost otherworldly look. How someone so unique and colorful could have been born into such a depressing world, Simon thought he'd never understand. However, he could see the light at the end of his long, winding tunnel, coming to life before his eyes.

"Boota?" Nia's soft voice called out. Simon was reduced to nothingness at the sound of her melodious voice. It sang and flowed together perfectly, never failing to calm Simon's nerves. "What has you up so late at night?" she asked, head slowly scanning the room. First, she looked away from Simon and Boota, then slowly brought her head around towards them and…

Nia's eyes locked in on Simon. He was still breathing deeply, except now at about twice the speed, likely making him look spastic. But he didn't fail to return the gaze. They just stared at eachother for what felt like hours, Nia with a completely unreadable expression on her face. Simon's mind was working overtime, trying to come up with the right course of action for the current situation. Nia tilted her head to the side a little, her hair moving with it. She slowly brought her hands to her face and rubbed her eyes some more.

Simon felt ready to say something now, anything to break the tense silence. He cleared his throat, which was previously filled with lumps. "

"N-Nia?" Simon sputtered, words hardly being able to form on his mouth. She took her hands off her eyes and blinked at Simon a few times, eyes focusing back in on him once again. She looked surprised to find that Simon hadn't disappeared before her eyes. All traces of nervousness suddenly faded from Simon's mind, clearing his head of every possible thought except Nia. His instinct to protect had taken precedence over all others.

"Nia," Simon said softly, putting on a warm smile. He scooted closer to her slowly, making sure not to seem threatening or intimidating in any way. "I'm back. I'm alive and okay. I'm not going to leave or anything."

" _Probably…"_

"Simon…" Nia said, feeling out his name once again. "Am I…? Still asleep? Simon?"

"I don't think so," Simon said, aware of the logical pathway Nia's mind was taking.

"Am I…? Dead?" Nia guessed. Simon's heart sank at the thought. He wouldn't let anyone else meet a tragic end as long as he had the power to fight.

"No Nia," Simon started, "You're where you were when you fell asleep. I'm back from… the dead I guess. There's no easy way to explain it… But I'm fine! Completely safe and alive! And so are you!" He was giving it his best effort to lead Nia to the right conclusion. Eventually, he had inched within as arms length from Nia, able to see her clearly.

There was a misty look on Nia's face, likely a combination of recently waking up as well as being utterly confused at the event unfolding before her. Her eyes looked hazy and stared at Simon, probing him. Trying desperately to find legitimacy within his words and appearance. A sign, something to prove that he was in fact, alive, and there for her, and nothing or noone else.

Simon reached out slowly and placed his slightly rough hand on Nia's shoulder. After having barely used his hands in his current lifetime, they were still marginally soft; luckily. The thin fabric of her nightgown made it easy to feel Nia's skin underneath, twice as soft as Simon's hands and infinitely more pleasant and inviting. Nia visibly flinched at the contact, startled by the unparalleled realism and care contained with the warmth of Simon's hand. The possibility was planted in her mind. Maybe, just maybe, by some miracle, Simon was alive.

As a final test, Nia reached her hand up to touch Simon's. Her hand was caring and warm, yet hid the undertones of a long and bitter fight. An unknown struggle, contained all within the feel of her touch. In return, Simon's hand was hard and gritty, hiding the feelings of longing and passion buried beneath the stress of war. A relatable feeling for Nia. Simultaneously, each of them understood what the other had gone through to get to this point. Their two paths converged once again as Nia's hand resolutely gripped Simon's.

"Simon," Nia started, a look of clearness now showing on her face as tears welled up in her eyes. "You really came back. I missed you so much!" Nia finished. All at once, she saw the what she had been missing since Simon left. Moments of warmth and calm had been abruptly jerked away from her, and she made no efforts to try to bring them back. But Simon _did_ come back. Somehow.

"Yeah," Simon replied, also not able to resist the tears that were rapidly forming. "I missed you too. It feels like forever since I've seen you, but none of that matters now. We're together again, right?"

In this one moment, everything was golden. Except it was only painted gold, not real gold. Don't think this is really how it went. Something was off about it. Too bland. Too fake. So… It faded into nothingness, like all things will do eventually due to the nature of our world. Unless time becomes flexible and we could go back. So that's what's going to happen when I rewrite this whole entire story except

 _ **BETTER**_

 _ **SEE YOU IN THE NEXT LIFE OR MAYBE A FEW HOURS BECAUSE I'M STARTING FROM THE BEGINNING WITH SOME THINGS THE SAME AND SOME THINGS DIFFERENT YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO FIND OUT BECAUSE IT ISN'T DONE YET I'M BACK EVEN THOUGH NOBODY NOTICED I LEFT MORE DETAILS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER'S AN**_

 _ **P.S. EARLIER CHAPTERS WILL BE REPLACED SO EVENTUALLY THIS ENTIRE STORYLINE WILL BE GONE EXCEPT I WILL HAVE IT ON MY COMPUTER SO IT WON'T REALLY**_


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